Piano Keys
by Hitome-Chan
Summary: Sora and his friends are Gods among men, literally. That is till one day something horrible happens and Sora falls from his throne in their land of Kingdom Hearts...straight to Earth! Find out what happens to Sora, Riku, Axel, Roxas, and more!
1. Chapter 1

Piano Keys

Written By: Hitome-Chan

**Author's Notes:** First things first, I want to see how well this goes over before I actually continue it, secondly: I do not (did not which ever tense need be used now) have internet so this story is either sitting on my computer at home or on a disk somewhere getting uploaded. Because of this if it takes off like I want it to be known that I can't guarantee updates like I want to. Thirdly: I wholeheartedly plan on continuing my two other stories, Winter Strawberries is only a few chapters away from being completed anyway so I thought I'd get started on my next project. Anyway thanks for reading the **AN **on to the reading.

**Chapter One: **Arpeggios

Long ago, in the perception of humans, there was a great Heaven. Not the Heaven we picture at mention of the word, but a Heaven filled with thousands of different Gods and Goddesses and even some gods and goddess, the difference being rank, or number of sacrifices to that particular deity, this Heaven was called Kingdom Hearts. The Good Mother, to whom all praises should be raised and finest wines toasted to, looked down upon her domain. Her name, though the mortals called her The Good Mother, was Jenova, the creator. She was formed in the dreams of her mortals, but rose when their ideas became collaborative. Jenova was the manifestation of dreams and hope hence why she is the Mother of all things Good.

Her reign began when she birthed her first child and only, Sephiroth; he became the God of Life and Death. In Jenova's time conception was not necessarily a routine between two people, for the Good Mother she merely had the urge for a child and it happened.

Sephiroth took a mortal wife who throughout history has remained unnamed. To him she birthed: Loz; who became the God of Destruction and War. Then she birthed her next child Yazoo, who was much brighter than her first son and became the God of Intelligence and Combat. After which another son was born: Kadaj, who exhibited a great deal of both intelligence and strength so he became the God of Peace or the God of Chaos, because he could not be one the without the other. Their next and last child was the boy Riku. He was not like his brothers in that he didn't show extreme like to War, Combat, or Chaos, but he instead became the God of Earth and was allowed to watch over the humans for any amount of time he wanted.

It is a very well known fact, depending on who you are, that on the other side of Kingdom Hearts, clear on the other side of the world, which, at that time, was a much bigger place, there was another Great. He was simply referred to by his people as "The Bringer" for that is what he did. He alone brought wealth, fame, disease, fertility, wine, crop, everything.

The Bringer took to himself a mortal wife as well, but this woman was of copper skin as opposed to Sephiroth's ivory skinned one. She bore to him a slew of children, each assigned to their own particular devices, but his favorite of his children was Aerith, the Goddess of Purity. She sadly bore no children in his lifetime (for Gods and Goddesses die the same as humans, only their lives are maybe ten times as long, if not longer).

One day these people met one another for when travelers journey distances they must take their Gods with them. At first there seemed to be a general dislike but when the Good Mother and The Bringer announced both a treaty and a merger of pantheons all went silent. Yea, The Bringer had more than ten-thousands Gods and Goddesses with him as Jenova had more, but soon these many deities combined into one and the same people as they began to receive the same sacrifice and prayer. The Good Sons and Aerith remained unchanged for their dominion was unmatched by anyone opposite of them and they, along with the Good Mother who has to this day yet to die, watched over the world and all were happy.

Time, who you will meet and come to learn is foul and a bit fickle, did his job and let things tick along through the eons. The mortals became more and more advanced through each. One day Aerith, who was watching over her father's dominion, spied a fisherman. His short cut bronze hair glimmered and glistened in the sun, from some angles it would look blonde and from some brunet. She looked on at his naked chest which would flex and relax as he guided his ship through treacherous waters, and at his strong legs that would plant themselves firmly as he caught his wages in the sea with his bare hands.

It was at this time that Aerith went to the Good Mother, for she could not speak with her father in the realm of the deceased about such womanly things, and asked her what these feelings in her chest were, what made her heart flutter so quickly, and her blood, golden and thick, still. Jenova told her what the name of the emotion was, but she could not think such a small word could describe what she felt in her heart of hearts.

She travelled next to Sephiroth and asked him. Sephiroth glared at her with his cyan eyes, glowing and catlike, for he hated her, she who had captivated the pantheon with her beauty and her charm, something he felt only right for himself and his lineage, and answered her in sharp words. "Humans die." He told her. "Do nothing you would regret, for if you did I would not give you the sympathy you so easily gain from others." and with that he was off on a single black wing.

Aerith went to the spot she had seen the man; she did not go gaze upon the spot lovingly but instead _went _to it in physical form. It had been unheard of for any God, god or God, to go upon the earth clothed in flesh yet she did. Aerith stayed on the earth for a year in human times before was married to her fisherman.

Within another year she bore a child, his hair was as golden as the sun and his eyes as blue as the sky. She named him Cloud and the sons of Sephiroth, though as completely unparticular about Aerith as their father was, claimed him their brother for he was moody and unpredictable, unlike Riku who did nothing but gaze at the Earth in his robes made of cumulus and occasionally sipped their wines.

Cloud grew to fruition and got as old as he would get, nineteen in human years, and he became the God of the Sky and of Good Winds. It was on Cloud's nineteenth human year that Aerith birthed her second and third child of the fisherman and named them Roxas and Sora.

Roxas' hair was the same golden-brown color of his father's and he had a strong jaw while Sora, his hair was a dark auburn, he had the face of a cherub.

Sora was a strange God. It has been proven that he could not be killed as easily and is more eternal in the sense of the word than the other Gods (for the exception of his twin solely), for once his temples were rioted and torn down, and he simply reverted to infancy whilst his towers were rebuilt. Maybe he is not undestroyable, but merely like the phoenix. At times he is in the Heavens and at times he wanders the earth, Aerith fears that her wanderlust has rubbed off on her youngest son, and then fears even further that as a Goddess of Purity she has any kind of lust, that of wandering or that of the flesh. Sora became the God of the Love and of the Sea, for the two are the same in their main basic elements. Roxas became the God of Vengeance and Death (of one sort); mark me: this was merely what he was praised for. Roxas was, if not compared to his brother, the most caring of the Gods, the most gentle, and (far surpassing Sora) the most logical.

If I may make a point I would like to point out that the mortal lovers of the Gods and Goddesses have rotted and reverted back to their own original ashen states, as these things go. Their children with the pantheon are not Halflings, or demigods, for this was in a time where either you _are _or you _aren't _and there was no nonsense inbetween-ness.

So finally it came to pass the nineteenth thousandth and ninth year after the death of the prodigal son of the Trinity Pantheon, also known as Christianity, and our story begins with the God of Love, who was reckless at the time. He was not known for being the smartest of the Gods, though in no way was he a fool, and our little God fell from the Heavens.

He was not punished that we know of, but he actually _fell _from Kingdom Hearts. Stumbled. Tripped. Fell. The events happened so fast that no one knew how it transpired.

"Sora, brother. Hoy." Cloud greeted his youngest brother.

"Hoy, Cloud!" Sora beamed, for what God could be unhappy?

"You are looking well, youngest brother." Cloud told the boy wrapped in cumulus robes which were hanging loosely from one of his shoulders and latched through a golden amulet.

"Thank you most kindly, brother." Sora said feeling even more elated. Cloud, the moody and usually quiet, had initiated a conversation with him.

"Where is our middle brother, then, I thought you two were inseparable?" Cloud's oceanic eyes fell on Sora in what felt like a procession of tidal waves, that mere gaze and one was drowning.

"H-he is with Axel, brother. Before you start it was not _my _handiwork, I don't _force _people to fall in love I just give _lovers _a little push in the right direction."

Cloud smiled and the act made him seem even more handsome. Sora blushed a little, taken aback by the blinding force of his brother's beauty, and briefly he wondered if he could have the same effect on people, or Gods for that matter.

"If you say so brother, but I've never been partial to the God of Fire." Cloud said dropping the small smile and replacing it with a frown.

"I think it is poetic, Hatred and Flame, do you not?" The Sea God sighed.

"That really is more of your realm of expertise, mine brother."

Cloud sat down on the side of a fountain while Sora took his sandals off and rolled his robes up and stood in it.

"Praise be to Grandfather for him finding someone." The brunet God began again.

"Even if that someone if frivolous, and changes how they feel about someone more than—"

At that moment four heads of silver walked by them, each one as beautiful as the last, and though their appearances varied one thing could be said for each of them, they had a look of self-satisfaction set on their faces.

"Even if that someone changes more than your mood, Cloud, brother?" The third oldest, and second shortest, offered.

"Kadaj, surely you were not easy dropping in a conversation between blood brothers." The aforementioned smiled his cat-like smile.

"Yea, but we are all blood brothers here, in some sense of the word, my dear Cloud."

Sora put a hand on Cloud to calm him and then stepped out of the fountain. "Lord Kadaj it is always a pleasure." He said with a slight bow.

"Oh, but the pleasure is mine, or so I hope it will be." This earned him a snicker out of two of the three standing behind him. Sora merely blushed. "One such as yourself has infatuated me deeply, Love, you with your skin of light caramel, with your eyes of the sky, with your breath of honey." Kadaj grabbed Sora about the waist and pulled him close. "Little Love, I would give to you my sacrifices, my praises, my people, if only you were to let me bed you."

"Brother, let go of him, surely you can see it is not you he wants." Riku, who had been watching the events unfold as uncomfortably as Cloud (who was incidentally thinking of every curse he knew that could inflict pain on a God). Kadaj smirked.

"No, no, I supposed I am not." He said letting go of Sora's thin waist. "But know that my offer will always be open." Kadaj bowed. "Sea King, Sky King, I bid you fare-the-well." Kadaj stood, while his two older brothers said nothing but nodded acknowledgingly. Riku on the other hand stayed.

"I apologize for his behavior." He said facing Sora but never turning his back to Cloud, who wasn't known to be very forgiving.

"It-it's alright." Sora blushed.

"Should not you be following your blood?" Cloud asked; Riku smiled.

"If it makes no difference to you, Sky King, I would like to stay and talk."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Do what you will." He said and returned to his seat on the fountain. "Brother, roll down your robe, there was probably good reason Kadaj acted as he did."

Sora looked down and saw most of his lower body was exposed, and he grew crimson.

"Strike me!" He cursed and undid the knot holding up his robes. He looked up at Riku and apologized.

"It was not unpleasant." Riku assured.

Cloud stood again, never actually ever able to stay in one position for too long unless he had to, which was never often.

"My original purpose for meeting you was to find our brother Sora, I shall locate him." Cloud pulled his brother into an awkward embrace of long limbs and muscled ones, and then he turned to Riku. "Keep your head about you." The blond walked away in a blur of blues.

Riku breathed a sigh of relief; the God of the Sky was not one to be trifled with. His last words had been a warning. The Nature God looked up into the sky and saw that the sun was setting, even with Cloud's warning he still had a chance to impress Sora. He felt so attracted to the God of Love, it was a deep feeling that stretched over his entire being, surely there were flowers blooming in the arid dry of winter somewhere on Earth because of his new found infatuation. He thought about the lovely sunset and an idea popped into his mind.

"Come with me, I have something to show you." He smirked and began walking. Curious, Sora followed. They walked till they came upon Ansem the Wise's palace.

"The Sun God?" Sora asked. They ventured in a little further till they came to a drop off. Riku sat and so did Sora. "But what are we here for, Lord Riku?" Sora asked but received a scathing look from Riku.

"No honorifics, _Soar-rah._" Riku said and turned away from the boy. "Now hush up and watch you should enjoy this." For a moment Sora started to think that Riku had been gazing in the human world far too long, then he saw Ansem's dirigible of fire roll past them. It was magnificent, every hue of every red and orange and yellow that one could imagine, there was no particular shape to the dirigible, sometimes it was round, sometimes oval, Ansem the Wise, who was the mirror image to his brother of the same title, flew beside the flying thing containing it with different spells and hexes.

It was in the moment that he passed that Sora looked over at Riku. The light caught in Riku's hair and reflected it back brightly, his face was illuminated and there was not a flaw on it, his upper body was muscled so mischievously that one might not see the build at all, but Sora saw it, saw each tawny sinew rippling underneath that perfect ivory skin, saw the way his biceps flexed and relaxed, every twitch, every shiver was accounted. Sora could smell the flowers, the forest, the jungles; everything on the air around Riku, his smell was both pleasant and exotic. It was in that moment that Sora fell, to say quite literally, in love. It was not yet his time to stumble out of Kingdom Hearts, but he was in love, we can wait for that tale.

"So who is it?" Riku asked.

"Who is who, Lor—err—Riku?" Sora answered with another question.

"The one you want, if you can resist Kadaj's advances so silently then it must be a most powerful love." Riku was trying his damndest to look everywhere but at Sora but the God of Love had stood. It was now that Riku thought the boy would begin yelling at him for being so nosey, or storm away, but none of that happened. Sora instead crouched down beside him and whispered in his ear.

"Guess." Then he felt the warmest, softest, most luscious pair of lips he'd ever felt caress his cheek gently.

Those days were precious, the praises were sparse and it was harder and harder to survive so the utterance of one of their names, no matter how vague even if it was in a classroom and they were being learned of for the first time, was a welcome form of life. For a God that is how you survive, being praised, being remembered. They were also precious for the fact that Sora and Riku, Sea and Earth, were together and, in that, all else was good.

The next day they, along with Axel and Roxas, were sitting underneath the holly trees that grew. There was a story about them, the trees, but it had been long since out of circulation.

"What I don't understand," Axel said, he was a handsome God if there ever was one, tall and lean, red waves of hair falling ablaze, two triangular teardrop tattoos falling from his eyes, which were deep green. "is if we aren't necessary then why are we here? I mean, if I die there'll still be fire right? I'm just the personification of it, something people thank for being there when the Good Mother was handing out gigs."

Roxas, who had decided about three hundred years prior he was the older brother and shouldn't look like Sora too much to be confused wore his hair in a more than gravity defying matter, blond and brown swirled upward atop his head. His eyes were a mix of Cloud and Sora's and were the most beautiful, in some opinions. "The people needed us." He said. "They couldn't just have fire, just have…me, just have love or the world beneath them, they needed explanations, they wanted answers, and what better way then to make them."

Everyone knew Roxas did not like being associated with hatred and vengeance; it was more of a comes-with-the-territory kind of job. In essence the two were interchangeable, hatred and love, because they were in fact almost the same, which made things more bearable. But the fact was he fed off of hate, he could feed off of love but it wasn't the same, when hatred saturated the air he would be powerful and when there was too much peace and love he would have to go break it up. But humans can't live in peace; all the Gods knew that, which is why Roxas was so respected. If humans had peace for too long they wouldn't hate, they would kill. Their minds need something to hate, something to loathe, or it would confuse the two interchangeable emotions.

"He's right," Riku interrupted. "Just like when they died, they could not just have the thought that what if nothing happens? In the old days they needed an underworld, nowadays no one goes anywhere till the _other _Gods, how many of them are there anyway, till the others come back to get them, then it's judgment day."

"There is but one," Sora said. "He, and it is always He in capitals, anyway He is the only God, but the other one, the fleshy one, he was sent to the Earth as a sort of envoy I guess, and the third one, it is what is in their hearts, I suppose."

"It's bullshit." Axel decided.

"I'm sure He says the same thing about you, about us." Roxas answered.

"But He is this all knowing entity right? Then why did he "make"humans in the first place, if he knew they would betray him." Axel continued.

"You know humans created us, so I guess we wouldn't know." Riku answered.

"They say He's been around longer than the Good Mother and the Bringer have been put together." Sora interjected.

"I still think its bullshit." The blunt Fire God said decidedly.

"Yes, but be that as it may we are just one of many religions." Riku said, ever the vigil to speak for the humans. "I've seen so many other gods and goddesses, heard them, looked upon their homes of Valhalla, and Olympia, and even heaven, that is where the Trinity live, and they are all just like us, well a majority of them are smarter than Axel," Riku smiled and continued. "but in essence we're all the same. The humans need something bigger to believe in O Great Fire God, which is how their God came about most likely, hell, if he is all powerful then I think it would be fun to meet him."

Axel opened his mouth, thought for a second, and then closed it again. Roxas looked at him and then to Riku.

"You know a lot about the humans 'Ku, have you ever spent anytime around them?"

Riku responded:

"Well, I've only ever studied them from my looking glass pool, but I know them better than any God here could ever claim to; they're so complicated, and so spiteful, and lustful, and kind, and loving, and just wonderful."

Sora stood up, his limbs needed a good stretching. He had been sitting for far too long but wasn't complaining about leaning up against Riku, in fact that had been the only reason he really stayed, talking "politics" wasn't his strong suit.

When Riku stood up to go with him he told him to stay, he seemed to be having a good time, and that he was only going to talk with his mother anyway. Roxas' eyebrow rose but he said nothing. Axel tried, and failed, to inconspicuously feel up his lover's thigh without getting his hand swatted away (not that that stopped him from feeling Roxas up).

Everyone returned to their own devices except for our favorite God of Love who made his way to his mother's chambers. Strangely enough he did not find her there so he walked to his eldest brother's rooms, to see if he could locate her. He really had nothing to talk about but being in her company made him feel a nostalgic elation.

"Little brother," A sly voice slithered over his ear, hot breath caressed the outer shell, and a sensual tone penetrated his conscious. "You should not wander these halls alone, please let me accompany you." It was Kadaj, but he was without his entourage. By himself he wasn't nearly as intimidating; in fact he looked quite fragile except for the gleam in his hazel eyes.

Maybe that's why Sora agreed to go with him, because he wasn't much shorter than Kadaj, or because the silver haired god seemed a bit out of touch, but one way or another Sora found himself walking with the God of Peace.

"What troubles thee, Lord Kadaj?" Sora asked him in a friendly manner.

"It is father; it seems he doth not approve of our little Riku being so intimate with a son of Aerith. He was quite ill about the matter actually, it pains me greatly to say this to thee, dear Sora, for the fact that I myself love you, and if father was this angered by a meeting of you and his youngest the skies would blacken if I were to engage you."

Sora put his hand against his heart and then looked to Kadaj with hurt in his eyes. "Your father doth not…approve of me?" He asked. "But I've only met the Lord Sephiroth once, I was not even allowed speech, nor did I volunteer it. Maybe if he were to meet me—"

Kadaj held up his hands. "No, dear Sora, that would only exacerbate the situation, I've given him my word that you are as pure as your mother and as strong willed as your brothers but he would have no thought on it."

Sora felt tears stinging his eyes, pain was breaking away at his chest in tiny bites, devouring a different part of him each time he took a shallow breathe, his legs were wobbling, and his entire being shook. He wasn't good enough to be with Riku, it was a thought that had crossed his mind at one point or another but never enough to feel its repercussions.

A warm hand found Sora's shoulder and he was pulled into an even warmer chest. Kadaj smelled strangely of a mix of fine wine and flowers, his bare chest was smooth and muscled. "Do not fret, little one, father cannot stop Riku from being with you or me for that matter." Sora was intoxicated by Kadaj's scent; it was like a physical throb inside of him, a lull that pulled him closer to the God of Peace, made him sink deeper.

"Lord Kadaj, you are very kind, but I love Riku, I could never—"

"Sora, my sweet little brother, so untainted by the pleasures of life, so naïve to the pains of death, we are Children of Jenova, our word is law, I know you love my brother, but I love you, at least I long for you and that is close enough. I know you have not given yourself to another physically and I am drawn to that, the delicious virginity of a ripened God is an ecstasy I cannot pass up."

The God of Love began feeling himself drawn in again, his head swam with thoughts of Riku, but he could feel Kadaj's warm fingers playing a series of arpeggios over his skin, a lovely sonata of touch, an overture of ecstasy.

"Please…stop…this…" Sora whimpered through his hoarse throat, the warmness was pooling at his backside now and he could feel salty tears spilling from his eyes.

"You say that," Kadaj smirked widely. "but your body is begging for me to continue."

When it was finished Sora was on his knees with his robes torn around him, he wanted to cry but he couldn't Kadaj was still influencing his emotions.

"Why me?" Sora asked calmly.

"Because you are beautiful, because you are defiant, because you are the God of Love yet you know nothing of heartbreak, you know nothing of pestilence, it is more than disease, it is also sorrow unending. I am no vigilante of the heart but it was a lesson I think you would do well knowing. Tell who you will it won't make a difference to me, little Sora you will not think any differently of me, instead you will grow from our encounter, it will make you less arrogant."

"And just who was it that ordained you to make such judgment against another, my son?" The voice sent both a shiver down Sora's spine and made a warm flame lick in his stomach.

"Father…" Kadaj didn't sound happy but he bowed nevertheless.

"Are you above royalties, boy?" Sephiroth asked cutting Sora down with his eyes. The brunet bowed low to the cloud they stood on, it wasn't hard considering he was on his knees already, fresh tears threatening to spill out of his eyes.

"You do your family a great disservice Kadaj, albeit, you do your brother an even greater one by far. For what reason? You could not control that insatiable lust of yours?" Sephiroth's eyebrow rose by a fraction but other than that his face was completely blank.

"Father I—"

"Furthermore, you not only deflowered the God of Love, but you've also indebted us to his mother, this act was foreseen long ago, she begged me to keep you away from her youngest, but I said that _my _son was above something as insignificant as her inferior children." Sephiroth smiled, and a tremor of fear passed between Kadaj and Sora. "Riku fell hard for her son, Love, and so did my second youngest." The black wing behind the God of Life tucked itself underneath Sephiroth; the feathers were standing on end like any moment they would burst forth as missiles and shred the cowering boys.

"_Sora_," He said the name with such disgust that it looked like it pained him, a great feet. "are you angry with my son? Do you wish that I punish him? Lock him away for one eternity in a room of mirror where the only reflection he can see is his death millions of times over?"

Kadaj was shaking now he was muttering something like: "Mother, please help me." But nothing was happening. Sora didn't know what he felt, other than extremely violated.

"Such a curse I could wish on no one." He finally said with the tears spilling from his eyes.

Sephiroth looked mildly surprised; at least, one could guess it was mild surprise because he went: "Hmm." Then he looked deeper at Sora. "You've got a curse all your own, do you not?" He asked in his same smooth voice, if Sora were not so afraid he may have been angry, and if he were not so afraid he may have been sadder, Kadaj had breeched his territory, something that was unforgivable.

It was not to say that personal boundaries weren't as well constructed with the Gods of Sora's pantheon, because they were, just more lax. Everyone knew about them and the price to be paid, but when that punishment was over most of the time everything was right as rain.

"Kadaj." Sephiroth said firmly. "You have harmed a son of the Bringer, a son of one of the two Almighties, here you stand in your deed of lust and here shall you be punished accordingly. It pains me deeply but I will not intervene on the Love God's punishment, it will be harsh and for a time you will not be able to bring about the things so ordained to your power." Sephiroth turned his back to his son and his wing unfolded itself from behind him and he flew into the stars.

"Ha," Kadaj said still shaking, though he seemed to come out of his stupor upon his father's exit. "You are but the God of Love, you aren't mentioned in the stories but a handful of times, and even then you are mistaken for a woman, what curse could you place on me? The God of Peace and of Chaos, in words of the humans the God of Divinity and of the Damned; I challenge you to do your worst, _Sor-ah_."

Sora, who's eyes burned with anger now that neither Kadaj's nor Sephiroth's magic was not calming him spoke finally in a high and tight voice: "You have wronged me Kadaj, you have wronged me and in doing so your own blood as well, this punishment shall be swift, but the effect shall be everlasting." It was then that Sora began glowing as bright as the stars themselves, his eyes the brightest, a white gold color. "For two centuries you shall wander aimlessly looking for your true love, you will fall in love with the ugliest, most undesirable monsters in both appearance and character and each time your heart will be broken, your looks on which you have taken many a bed mate will cease to amuse anyone and you will be like a leper among God and human alike. I punish not you, oh arrogant God of Peace, but your miserable existence."

For a mere second Kadaj laughed at the curse, for a mere second Kadaj could feel his strength far surpassing Sora's. But a mere second passed, a blinding, searing, maddening pain was drilling into his entire body. It was his heart that worried him; it beat at ten thousand beats per half second. Everything around him slowed down to barely moving, barely breathing, but he knew it was he who was not moving. Not only was there great pain, but also a deep longing, one he had never felt before. That is how Sora left him longing and hurt, though he was weak his purpose was strong, and therefore the God of Love should never be taken lightly.


	2. Chapter 2

Piano Keys

Written by: Hitome-chan

**Author's Notes**: So it seems I've got the next chapter down, I hope you're enjoying this so far, as per most of my stories the plot develops as it goes (in other words I have no idea where this is going, but that makes it even more exciting!). I really like writing this, it is a break from the norm of things I've done, till now I really have only been writing in a sort of "in-character" style with a really close background, but I decided to make this one completely AU and at times very OOC , now I feel like I've kept them in-character a majority of the time but when they aren't it's like a completely different person. _(More ANs at the bottom)_

**Warning**: Short Chapter

**Chapter Two: **Concertos

Word spread through Kingdom Hearts like the plague had spread through the human villages, every god, every creature, and every monster knew of the liaison that had happened between the two Gods. Riku was racked with grief but that was not the worst of his problems, Kingdom Hearts was being split in two by the event. Some sided with Kadaj and gave their deepest sympathies to him while others sided more logically with Sora and did the same.

"What can we do?" Riku asked Yazoo one day, two decades later, he was the most sensible of his brothers.

"I quite like these human weapons, they use to use spears and swords like us, but they've evolved, become so much more complex. This is called a…" He trailed off like he was thinking.

"A gun Yazoo, a pistol actually, but that is beside the point, brother." Riku pleaded.

"Go gaze in your pool that always calms you little brother, see if our Kadaj still pines after that Greek Gorgon, Melinda, or whatever her name is. I have not the time to quibble about how to save Kingdom Hearts."

"It is Medusa, brother, and if you paid more attention you would know that she has eyes only for Poseidon, the Greek God of the ocean, I'm not so sure how well Sora would take meeting him, _that _God is a bit haughty." Riku thought aloud.

"Who Sora?" Yazoo asked polishing the chrome of his pistol.

"No Poseidon—never-thee-mind brother, I shall call counsel with Jenova, she may have a few answers for me."

Riku saw Yazoo go stiff, then relax at the mention of their grandmother, no one just "set up a counsel" not even them. It would take months at most to get permission to _get_ permission, and Yazoo did not like to be in _her _presence anyway, it felt so ancient. "Good luck to you, my brother." Yazoo said knowing the impossibilities.

"Thanks." And Riku was gone in a breeze, in his wake were a few green leaves from different trees, upon touching the ground they browned and died.

Riku was given counsel with Jenova three years later, he took with him Sora and together they entered into her domain. She resided in the furthest most room in the house of Jenova, the house where all the original Children of Jenova started their lives.

Inside of her room it was spacious, more so than the entire earth and half the human galaxy. It was entirely pitch black minus the spirits that hung in the air like stars, and in the middle of the room she stood suspend above the floor by thought. Sora dropped to one knee and Riku bowed lowly.

"Rise." She said, her voice was everywhere and nowhere, they could not be sure they heard it because of how loud and quiet it was, it was maddening and infectious, powerful and ancient, yet playful and new. The epitome of oxymoron could not describe the way one perceives her voice, yet she spoke. "My child," Her face was hidden in darkness, a veil of silver hair was touching the floor and her skin (what they could see of it) was milkier than the snow of the first snowfall. She was beautiful, when her lips moved in the dimness of the spirit light surrounding them you could see how pink they were, and her eyes glowed the most dangerous shade of blue one had ever seen, like a panther's only ten hundred times deadlier. "You seek my advice," She spoke/whispered/sang. "ask and I shall tell."

Riku had to take a breath, which was odd because he didn't breathe. It was hard to remember his immortality when standing in front of the oldest source of power that he had ever known; he knew of the other sources, the Christian God, Buddha, Allah, but considering that Allah and God were basically the same person, and Buddha was merely a lucky monk who had gotten enlightened and became immortal, he felt awestruck.

"Mistress Grandmother," he began regally.

The woman smiled warmly, a clear contrast to her only son's demeanor. "Please, my boy, call me Grandmother, or Mother, but the honorific is unnecessary." She floated towards him gracefully and Sora notice that the darkness moved with her, he could never clearly see her face because the harder he looked the more the blackness built around it.

"G-Grandmother," he started again, and the Goddess nodded. "our Kingdom Hearts is in turmoil, God against God, creature against creature, we cannot keep the peace for too long then another fight breaks out."

Jenova sighed and when she did Sora could feel the waves in the ocean stir. "Riku, I cannot help you, I cannot tell the inhabitants how to live their lives, or what cause to rally for. I apologize to you Sora for what happened, long ago I received a vision that something would happen and I warned Aerith, who warned my son, but it still transpired. It was inevitable because of the events that will also transpire soon, but someone so innocent should not have had to go through it. I do not intervene with fate though," She smiled. "If I did I'm afraid Marluxia would resent me."

"Wait." Riku held his hands to his head trying to take in something. "What other events will transpire?" He asked stepping closer. She reached down and touched Riku's cheek and feelings of elation and fear, insanity and perfect sanity (which incidentally felt the same), power and weakness, love and jealousy all passed through him.

"In due time child, all will be revealed; now I think our audience is over, you are too charming, I may have said too much if I were in your company much longer, my compassionate Grandson, to bear the weight of the humans on your shoulders for one person…" Jenova stopped. "My, I have said too much. Go now." Riku and Sora began to leave and they could feel the age had changed outside of this place. "Sora," Jenova called. He turned but could not see her. "When the time comes, promise me you will make the right choice."

Before he could answer the doors to her chamber slammed closed. They noticed that the age had in fact changed, it was much darker in the sky now, and the glow of the human city was brighter than it had ever been.

They found a minor god, Demyx the God of Rain, and asked him. "What has happened?" Sora sounded anxious.

"The seventies happened, brother." Demyx was a relative of the Bringer, like quite a few gods.

"What are the seventies?" Riku asked. "What year is it?"

"1978, dude, the humans have brought about an age of total bliss."

Sora looked at Riku and Riku looked back.

Firstly they looked for Cloud; he hadn't changed a thing but his clothes. Whereas Sora and Riku were wearing robes made of the very cloud they were standing on Cloud was wearing a skin tight black shirt and some sort of blue fabric for pants. Come to think of it Demyx had been wearing something outrageous when they saw him, a shirt with lapels bigger than he was, pink pants that belled at the bottom, and black heeled shoes.

"Ah brother, you return from talking with Lady Jenova." Cloud looked miserable.

"What is the matter brother?" Sora asked.

"Pollution." Cloud said a bit angrily but before Sora could question him any farther someone threw their arms around him.

"He returns!" A familiar voice said quite loudly. "What's up bro?"

"Roxas?" Sora turned and almost busted out laughing before him stood his twin brother. His hair was intentionally spiked even more then what it had been, he wore a multi-pattern of triangles of every color, and a brown belt which cinched a pair of bell khakis.

"My brother, what hath thou done to thyself?" Sora asked holding back his laughter.

Roxas looked down. "What? This is what the humans are wearing nowadays. We'll have to get you some new duds." Roxas thought a bit. "You know you'll have to get that speech under control as well, the times have changed, Sora, and more and more of us are spending time on the Earth with the humans, who aren't so bad after all, except for all the dying, but I've dealt with that for a couple of millennia, what's a few millennia more?" Roxas looked absolutely ecstatic. "You would think I'd be upset right? But it doesn't seem like there is much anger among the younger crowds, though they're almost all stoners. I mean with Woodstock coming up and everything I quite enjoy the vibe of everyone being so mellow."

"Dear brother," Sora said looking distressed. "I have not the slightest idea what thee—what you are saying." Sora pronounced "you" like "yew", though no one could tell the difference.

When all was said and done it was true that not too much had changed on the earth. There was no surprise that the prayer had become nonexistent so every god was starved to the point of exhaustion, but it didn't seem to be fazing them too much. Prayer had gradually been declining as was sacrifice, so when it finally stopped completely they had been weaned off of it completely too. In its place was a feeling of longing and loneliness that possibly every one of them felt, but it was overlookable because when you're an all powerful deity with no forum you get by how ever you can.

"Brother," Sora said lying underneath Ansem's sun dirigible; it had become less useful when the humans began using the physical sun as opposed to the idea of Ansem's. Humans are strange creatures in a god's eyes, they believe in you for a quick few centuries then you're yesterday's news. Of course the sun had always been there, the physical one that is, but just like the Good Mother Ansem's sun dirigible was a constant that only kept going with belief.

"Yeah?" Cloud answered lazily, taking in the rays of Ansem's flying vehicle.

"How have you been keeping yourself entertained these past few decades?" Sora asked having trouble adjusting to the new vernacular. "I've grown so bored of sitting here, even Riku's looking pool has become nothing but muck to me."

Cloud looked at his brother then he tinged pink a bit, he looked around once, then twice for prying ears. "I've met someone." Cloud said finally.

"Really? Tell me about them, him or her." Sora said mulling it over in his head. He could feel the love pumping through Cloud's heart as he began speaking; if he wanted to he could see an almost tangible image of that same love. To him it was an ethereal blue glow that surrounded someone; he had no idea where the nonsensical notion that love's color was pink came from, obviously not.

"Her name is Tifa Lockhart." Cloud began. "She is more beautiful than any goddess I've ever met." Cloud looked to his brother to see if he were upset with the fact that Tifa was human, it was ill conceived that he may have been because they were "born" from human genetics, but it wasn't uncommon for a god to hate the creatures that damned them never to function the same again. When he saw Sora had no protest he continued.

"Her hair pools at her back in a silk spun raven mane, her eyes are the deepest chocolate, and her form is perfect; marble white skin, angular face, and petite waist."

Sora's left eyebrow rose. "Have you talked to her?" He asked feeling a longing for Riku; it was both his gift and curse to be emphatic with lovers.

"Have I?" Cloud sighed. "I promised to hold the rains back for her, I've promised to name each beautiful day after her, I've offered her wines of the gods, gold, silver, anything her heart could desire and she insists on refusing me. Me the God of the Sky!" Cloud's voice did not give him away, it was the same consistency it always was, distant, but Sora could tell.

"Did you ever think," Sora began. "that it isn't the gold, nor the silver, nor even the weather that she wants? All you've told me about her were her looks, what is _she_ like?"

Cloud thought for a second, a warm breeze passed between them as he did so but Sora knew there was no wind today. The breeze caressed him, wrapped him in comfort and every feeling of the word love he could think of, it was like being kissed ten-thousand times over by Riku.

"She," The Sky God finally said after a good ten minutes of sitting stone still. "is amazing. Strong and independent, but soft and caring at the same time, she has no bad qualities from what I've seen in her, other than her humanity. She embodies the definition of perfect in my opinion and that is all that matters."

Sora thought for a moment and then stood. "Then if I may suggest, tell her what you have told me. Obviously you are in love with that, it wouldn't take me to tell such a thing."

Cloud smiled. "Yea, you are right my brother."

"Indeed I am." Sora smiled knowingly.

An eternity passed as the two brothers sat in the unending light of the flaming dirigible when Cloud finally spoke.

"Brother, how are you? I mean after what Kadaj did to you I rarely saw you, I wanted to murder him, but Sephiroth told me you had punished him enough. He suffers still from your curse."

"I-I am…" Sora looked at the solid clouds below him, they were as sturdy as the human substance called concrete, yet not as easily worn. "I am not angry. After all he did what he did out of love, I could feel that radiating in him. Though it was not a love for me he did it with, it was a love for you." Sora let that sit in then continued. "My curse will last another few decades then he wont be as deranged in his loves, the last I heard of him he was wooing the Greeks."

"Ah, have you ever met Aphrodite? She is their love goddess."

"No, but I've heard of her," Sora said wistfully. "She has a son you know, named Cupid. It's thanks to her that I have to endure that dreadful Valentine's Day."

"How do you know about her son? Wasn't he banished or something like that?"

"For loving a mortal woman yes, their very strict, those Greeks; ah but he could not resist the lure of a God. I had a brief affair with him centuries before I met Riku."

Cloud looked surprised. "I thought you a virgin?" He said a bit unhinged.

"Oh I was, and I was still when Kadaj had me, and I still am now. I am the God of virgin lovers as well, brother. If I so choose to be I can be."

Cloud laughed. "Hmm, that seemed to be the entire reason for Kadaj's lust as well, if only he'd known." A dark look passed over the Sky God's face. "I am sorry, by the way. It was my negligence that made him fall for you. I refused his offers too many times, if only I'd indulged him once…"

"It would have been no good. He was consumed by his love for you, if you would have indulged him he would be on you still, literally."

Cloud blushed.

"Your love would have rocked the heavens." Sora said with a grin. "Your moans rattling the stars themselves—"

"That is more than enough, baby brother." Roxas' voice came from behind them. The reluctant God of Vengeance sat beside Cloud. "Aren't the raped supposed to be sad and depressed?" Roxas asked as nonchalantly as he would about the weather.

"Good morrow to you as well, brother." Said Sora.

"Aye, it is thank you Cloud." Roxas returned. The aforementioned merely nodded his head in understanding. "Anyway, aren't we supposed to be doing something worse than just sitting here idly whilst all the world's worst creature reject him?"

"So eager for retribution?" Sora asked.

"Obviously." Roxas replied curtly. His handsome face was conflicting with his pent up longing for revenge.

"My brother, this is a matter I can handle, and while I appreciate your need to eviscerate my predator for me, I fear that I've already given him an equal payment."

"Just how is getting his heart broken a million times equal payment?" Roxas asked.

"Think of it like this, say I were to take away Axel's feeling for you right now," When anger flared across Roxas' face Sora held up his hands. "Hypothetically of course, I know the code." The code was an agreement between the gods to never use their powers against one another unless harmed irredeemably. "Now imagine how you would feel if you woke up to his cold stares, his tangible hatred scorching your throat it's flames were so hot. Imagine the feel of that spike caressing the arteries of your heart each and every day for two centuries. It may be a short time but a punishment almost too harsh, almost."

The first thing Roxas said was: "If Axel ever stops loving me I'll kill you," Then his face softened and he said: "Alright, I see what you mean; you can be cold when you want to."

"So about you being bored." Cloud said after they had stood, finally tired of nothing to do. "I suggest we go to earth, it has been a while since you've seen it."

"This has absolutely nothing to do with that woman, right?" Roxas asked feeling wily.

Visible anger flared in Cloud's eyes then Sora stepped between them. "Ugh, Roxas, Cloud, we're going, now."

It may have been the fact that it had been a couple of decades since he'd tried but when Sora took off for the earth he lost control of himself. He went stumbling through the atmosphere so quickly that to human eyes he could have been a falling star.

Sora couldn't breathe, he felt like he needed to which was strange because he had never needed to before. Something was crawling up his spine, something was tingling his entire being, rattling his sense of self. His eyes burnt, it was as if acid was where his pupils has once been. Every nerve in his system was coming alive and screaming out, rejecting whatever this was that was tearing at him.

Then something cool splashed him, he was immersed in it and he reveled in it. For the first time in his life Sora slept, and it was in the cool of the soothing immersion.

**Author's Notes**: I felt like it was too much to put at the beginning of this chapter but I wanted to say that if you've liked this so far you should read _American Gods _by Neil Gaimen, he doesn't need me promoting him because his work speaks for itself but I got a lot of inspiration from that book. It made me want to write about the gods of some unknown pantheon and to see what they thought about everything as well. You guys are just amazing, by the way, and I appreciate all the reads so far, but you know I loves me some reviews! Anyway, I'll see you next chapter 'round.

Love,

--Hitome-chan


	3. Chapter 3

Piano Keys

Written by: Hitome-chan

**Author's Notes**: So it comes to pass another chapter is here, I must thank himitsu shi for reviewing so far, though the story has only been out three day, even though in my absence I've written seven chapters, which are under review and being edited, poorly, by myself. That being said, I'm so glad that I've still got your attention. Let's see what Sora and co. are up to this time, and if you haven't guessed time has no bounds to these gods, there are a lot of references to other religions, and even more references to the manifestation of powers in human shaped gods, if this has put a stick in your craw then I'd suggest not reading any further. Now please for the rest of you here is chapter three.

**Chapter Three: **Crescendo

Sora Vertolini woke with a start, his head ached but he could not remember what his dream was about. It was already fading into the recess of his mind, it probably wasn't important anyway. The day was well on it's way into noon upon his awake, he had slept through one of his classes again, Mythological Analysis, and if he didn't hurry he'd miss his English Comp class.

He pulled on a pair of cargo shorts and a white tee shirt and when he decided he looked decent enough to emerge into the real world he exited his messy bedroom.

"'Nother late night?" His roommate and best friend, Pence, asked as he came out with bloodshot eyes scanning everything.

"How'd you guess?" Sora asked wading over to the fridge and pulling out the orange juice. He opened it and turned the carton up, chugging the last of it. He wiped his mouth, threw the carton away, and burped. "We're out of O.J." he announced to Pence who was frying some bacon.

"Geez, Sor, the least you could do was save some for me." The raven-headed boy said with a sigh. Pence was cute and "fluffy" as Sora called him. His build was not fat, but not lean either. It was almost a happy medium between, his heart shaped face barely ever held anything but a smile, and he was easygoing, even if he did wear that god awful headband all the time.

"Mmm, that smells good." Sora said leaning over Pence's shoulder. He eyed the eggs and bacon, the toast, the jam and butter, country ham, and at the far counter was a nice cup of vanilla coffee.

"Well, it's not for you," Pence said matter-of-factly and with a flourish dumped the remaining bacon on an awaiting plate. He poured out his vegetable oil, because lately he'd been on some health kick Sora couldn't understand. "Just because you can eat whatever you want and look anorexic doesn't mean the rest of us can." Pence would always say if Sora asked him.

"Who is it for then?" Sora asked, but got an image of blond hair, a light gray vest, green shirt, and camouflage pants.

"That's none of your business, _Sor-ah_. Anyway, I'd suggest you get to class, you know how Leon is if you miss." Leon was their English Comp professor, he didn't so much as teach as he did prop his legs up on the desk and assign random books that had no relevance with one another. Then he'd give a three question test about the book which usually consisted of "Title? Author? Year?"

It was pretty much impossible to fail his class unless you were always late, like some main characters that shall remain nameless.

Sora didn't look the least bit phased, if he left now he could be at class in five minutes, if he ran till his lungs gave out. "So that wouldn't be breakfast for some hunky blond, with short cropped hair, dazzling blue eyes, who's name may or may not start with an 'H' and end with an 'ayner'?"

Pence lit up like a Christmas tree, he turned to Sora with a puppy dog expression. "Ugh, don't say his name. He doesn't even know, okay? Geez, some best friend you turned out to be?"

Before Sora could say sorry a voice came from behind Pence.

"Who doesn't know what?" Hayner asked taking a whiff of the breakfast. "Eggs and bacon? Cool! That's my favorite!" What could he say, Hayner wasn't hard to please. "Could I have just a little bit, Pence, please, before Sora devours it with that black hole he calls a stomach?!"

"You don't eat with your stomach, 'tard, you digest with it." Sora offered.

"You know what I mean Spiky." Hayner smiled then slapped hands with the brunet. "Besides, isn't it too late for you to be eating breakfast?"

"Nah, I can make it to class."

"Don't you still have to…?"

Whatever Pence was going to say dropped from his mouth like a lead weight, before Sora could ask what was wrong he was lifted from his spot on the floor. The sight in front of him told him why his companions had gone slack-jawed. Standing there in his leather clad glory was their English Comp teacher. His handsome face was slim and angled, a long scar went across it but that only made him more handsome, mysterious, and dangerous. He always wore leather, even when it was boiling outside, Sora had heard (but knew better) that he even had a pair of leather Speedos, but that accusation may have cost someone their life had it been said aloud.

"You should be moving soon, squirt." Leon smiled familiarly at Sora and he pouted in return. Something a lot of students didn't know was that Leon was Sora's first cousin, and even though he'd grown up an only child his aunt Tifa had always made sure his cousins and he spent lots of time together.

"Put me down, Squall." Sora smiled.

"Its Mr. Lionhart now, squirt." Leon said evilly. He set Sora down on the floor then bopped him on the head. "Now let's go, don't think just because you're my baby cousin that you get any special treatment." Leon grabbed Sora by the collar of his white shirt and began to tug him out of the dorm.

"Guess you two'll be here, _all alone_. Don't do anything I wouldn't do Pence." Sora smiled evilly and followed Leon out the door.

"What did that mean?" Hayner asked scratching his head. "Don't do anything?"

"L-look! The breakfast is getting cold, and I couldn't possibly eat this all by myself with Sora gone, wanna help me with this food?" Pence asked shakily, but by luck's hand the word "breakfast" had been the point where Hayner had already picked up a plate, and "food" had been the word he started eating at. The raven haired boy grabbed a piece of bacon and sat watching Hayner eat.

"You can't just come pick me up whenever you feel like it, Leon." Sora said in a huff, he'd been dragged directly to the class room, which was empty. "And why is there no one in here?"

The taller brunet smiled. "Because, class doesn't start for another fifteen minutes, schedule delay with the bells."

Sora glowered at his oldest cousin. "You're evil; pure, unadulterated evil. D'you know that?"

Leon sighed and walked over to his desk; he propped his legs up like he always did and looked at Sora. "When your mom sent you here I told her I'd take care of you, that's what I'm doing."

"Yeah, well she didn't mean to baby me." Sora decided and pouted even harder.

"You get treated however you act."

"You're a bad teacher."

"You're a brat."

"You're a booger-head!"

"I'm rubber you're glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you."

Sora paused. "That was positively childish."

Leon smirked. "Wish you'd thought of it?"

Sora smiled. "Totally." He went behind Leon's desk and pulled out a laptop then walked over to his own.

"You know you should really get your own computer, I'm tired of you using mine." Leon said with an unreadable expression.

"You'll get over it, unless you've got stuff on your hard drive you don't want me seeing." Sora smiled deviously.

"If I do?" Leon said in a flat voice with the same unreadable expression.

"God, Leon, that's gross!" Sora wrinkled his nose and clicked the big "e" on the desktop.

"Damn, I thought that would make you shut it down." Leon chuckled.

"Mr. Lionhart!" A female voice said with a small squeak. "We will not have that kind of speech influencing our students, I don't care what you do at home with your family, but here your relationships are strictly faculty/student." A woman's high voice pinched at their ears.

"Oh, yes Minnie, sorry about that. I'm sorry to you too, Sora." The aforementioned could see through the apology like polished glass.

Minnie laughed. "Well, that was easily reprieved." She was a short African American woman, she had rather round ears and dark black eyes, her wavy black hair was short cut but seemed to flow lusciously and her mouth never left its smile default; she may have been pretty if it weren't for her demeanor. She was ALWAYS cheery. There was optimistic, then there was delirious, then there was Minnie.

A couple of years ago there had been some controversy that Minnie had gotten her position by leeching off of her husband, who owned the school but was far too busy to actually run it, but the woman litigated better than a lawyer and proved that her status at Destiny Island Academy was legit.

"Well, I must be off boys, this schedule has everyone in a tizzy, but it'll be alright." She chuckled once more before she left.

"Is there any way to anger that woman?" Sora asked a bit dumbfounded.

"You might start by failing my class." Leon provided. "And her name is Mrs. Mouse, not 'that woman'. Be respectful, she's a good person, one of the only ones here."

Sora turned his attention back to his e-mail and after that his Facebook, which was much better than Myspace by far in his opinion. After about tem minutes he looked up at Leon. "So what're we doing?" He asked.

"Well, I'm sitting and you're sitting, but you're also using my computer." Leon said without opening his eyes.

"Ass, I mean what are we doing in class today?" Sora asked forgetting he was talking to a teacher, like he tended to do during class. It was hilarious the first time that Sora had called Leon an ass and punched him in the arm when the older man woke him up. In Sora's defense he had been dreaming about ice-cream. The whole class went silent thinking that some sort of violence would ensue; they were very much surprised to find that Leon whacked Sora upside the back of his head and continued taking roll.

"Oh, we're reading Romeo and Juliet." Leon said, eyes still closed.

"We read that last week." Sora said with a sigh.

"Jane Eyre?" He asked.

"Week before last." Sora supplied. "I swear you're unfit to teach."

"And Then There Were None, I know we haven't done that one." Leon thought aloud.

"I hate that book." Sora said in mild disgust.

"It's a good story." Leon coaxed.

"The judge did it, you could tell he did it because he was the only one who was never questioned, or blamed. It was stupid and predictable." Sora said scholarly.

"Is that why a week after reading it you slept with a flashlight and a sign proclaiming that this island was haunted by rabid judges?" Leon poked an eye open and examined Sora, who was a deep red color.

"Shut up, I wasn't scared; I was…role playing a character from the story."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "I thought you only did that for stories you liked?"

"And really dumb ones." Sora said matter-of-factly.

Before Leon could insult him further the first bell rang and students began to pile in from the door, some grumbled, while other greeted Leon, and still others greeted Sora.

"Settle down class." Leon said though everyone was quiet and seated. "Alright, today we're going to be reading And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, its a murder mystery novel that I think you'll all enjoy." All this was said from the comfort of his chair with both eyes firmly closed. "You know where the books are, get 'em and get to reading." With that eloquent start to class everyone got into their usual routines.

The rest of Sora's day was about the same as everyday; he barely got through P.E. with Mr. Pete, the big oaf of a gym teacher who made it his job to set up beefy, overly-healthy boys and girls against the skinny, usually bespectacled, brainy boys and girls. Since Sora didn't exactly fall into one of the two categories, beefy or brainy, he was always sided with the more athletically challenged students.

Later he managed to evacuate the entire science building in his chemistry class with Mr. Yen Sid.

Art with Ms. Belle was more bearable, he really admired her. She was a beautiful young woman who was supposedly married to some beast of a man. You could tell that wasn't the case when she thought of him though, she would swoon and sigh. The one draw back to her class is that she was about as forgetful as Leon, and most of the time had her nose stuffed in a book.

Mrs. Maleficent's class was the worst of all though, she taught history, but truth be told that bag of bones _was_ history. It wasn't that she looked old, just that when you were around her aura _felt _really old. Plus if you squinted you could almost swear her skin had a green tint to it; like a witch.

"Now, Mussolini was the Italian dictator while Stalin was Germany's. But Mussolini didn't have Stalin's build, or his wonderful mane, dark, brooding eyes…" Mrs. Maleficent looked to be lost in memories. "Strike that, Stalin was a bad man who never called his dates back, oh dear. Where was I? Ah yes, World War II, the best in my opinion…" The rest of her classes would go on like that, once she had commented that in King John the First's younger days he was quiet handsome, which wasn't strange because there'd been pictures, but then she said something about how she had to dump him because he refused to tax his citizen's more, which he had tried to explain to her was impossible considering he had everything and they couldn't take anymore.

No one hardly paid attention in that class, except the really interested people who would jot down things in their notes like "Leif Erikson was a cheating bastard" or "Napoleon may have been short but he could drink with the best of them." Like he said: nonsense.

"Hey Sora!" A red headed girl called him after class from a group of people; her hair was almost a dark pink in actuality. Her petite form was shown off by the short blue skort she wore and the tank top that never reached passed her navel.

"Heya Kai." Sora said walking over to her. He flashed her a brief smile and looked around at the tanned faces of his accomplices. Another red haired girl waved at him, her hair was a shade away from the color of flames and she had dazzling blue eyes; her name was Ariel Foam. Then there was Jasmine Dehra, a pretty caramel skinned girl with chocolate eyes. Their boyfriends, Eric and Aladdin, stood behind them with protective glances and smiles that didn't reach their eyes. Across from them was Kairi Grey, Maximillion Goof, Max, he had an attractive face and strong features, his eyes were the same color as coal and his skin was a nice ebony color. His best friend P.J., Peter Junior, stood beside him. A few more people Sora didn't recognize stood next to them as well.

"So what's up?" Sora asked his friend Kairi.

"Nothing, we were talking about Jafar's calculus exam." Kairi answered. Jafar was a math teacher, obviously. He offered no last name to his students but prefered to be addressed as Sir, well, he'd answer to Your Majesty if you said it. He was a stick of a man with a thick black goatee and obscenely bushy eyebrows.

"Ugh, don't talk about math! I'm done with that subject." Sora protested.

"You know going to Geometry and stopping doesn't make you done with it, it makes you lazy." Jasmine offered smiling prettily; of course for her it was just a smile.

"You call it lazy, I call it finished. Tomato, tah-mah-to." Everyone laughed.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful considering that his last block was just a study hall, when the bell rang he was already out of the door and halfway home when he bumped into Leon.

"Watch where you're going, squirt." Leon said looking down on the fallen boy.

"You're like a freaking brick wall." Sora decided brushing off his pants dramatically before standing up. "Outta my way, I'm hungry and I think its Pence's day to cook!"

"Didn't you eat lunch?" Leon asked much to Sora's chagrin.

"Of course I did, but I'm a growing boy, I need to eat whenever I can."

"Whatever." Leon offered helpfully.

"Who dropped a scorpion in your craw?" Sora asked holding back a snicker.

"What?" The brunet man made a confused face. '_Teenagers.' _He decided.

"Anyway, Squally, I'm going home. Try to find a personality while I'm gone."

"Yeah, I'll look for your brain while I'm out." Leon retorted. Sora beamed his best smile and trudged on through the hallways thinking about how boring it was going to be considering he was going to ignore his homework again for the fourth time that week; homework was so boring. But what didn't occur to him was how normal he felt, how normal everything around him was. But as you know, normalcy only lasts about as long as your reality lets it.

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"What do you mean lost?" Riku asked thirty-one years earlier.

"What I mean, my Lord, is that we cannot locate him." Rabbit, the God of the Woods, said to Riku unafraid. Rabbit was an anthromorphic rabbit; he spoke with a proper manner and was hardly ever afraid of any god. He was a servant of the Nature God but he knew his role in the world was important as well.

"How the hell did this happen?" Cloud asked angrily, he had been right beside Sora when they had made their journey and when they landed he was gone, nowhere to be seen. Another problem was that they couldn't find him, his presence was just gone.

"Master Cloud, I've had every woodland animal looking for him, every bird, every bear, and even every rabbit. I cannot keep exhausting my worshippers; you will have to begin searching somewhere else."

"You know Sora," Roxas said with controlled nervousness. "He-he's resilient right? He'll bounce back, right?"

"Of course, Master Roxas, we'll find him I'm sure. Oh bother, what a world this will be without love." Rabbit commented.

"Fool. The world will continue its intended emotion." A cool voice came from around them. "He was merely the personification, a catalyst even, of the emotion people felt for him." Yazoo stepped out of the shadows, having just materialized there.

"Go away, brother. I know of your dislike of Sora, and I needn't your thoughts on the matter." Riku said quickly, cutting his eyes at Yazoo.

"Get it around your head, he is an enemy of our family, _brother_, he cursed Kadaj, and obviously you're under his spell as well." The tight fitting leather caressed Yazoo's body as he strolled around the others, his hair whipped in the small wind when he walked past Cloud.

"I think it was quite fortunate for fate to intervene in this matter." Another voice said with a hint of disgust. "Haa, God of the Sea my tentacles; when I reigned over the sea there were storms and typhoons the size of Skyscrapers! I'm glad he's gone the little brat." Ursula was a minor sea goddess, her upper half was the head of a wild, purple skinned woman, white hair going in all directions as if she were floating under the ocean and her lower half was that of a black squid.

"Ah, now you're talking Ursula, baby." Hades said appearing in very much the same fashion as Yazoo. "Say bye-bye to old blue eyes and hello to vivacious you." Hades kissed Ursula's hand. See the common misconception was that Hades was the Greek God of the Underworld, which is very much the case. But considering how unloved the guy was he sort of weaseled his way into Kingdom Hearts.

"Oh Lord Hades, you make me more giddy than a blast of sulfuric acid." Ursula giggled smoothing her hair down.

"Enough!" Riku shouted, his voice ringing out. "We need a full blown search for the God of the Sea, and I mean now, Sora could be hurt somewhere."

"That's where you're wrong, sweet-cakes. According to the laws in case something happens to that softie you called a lover I become Goddess of the Sea again. That barnacle brain usurped my position anyway. Think of me as a _pro tempore_." The purple tinged woman smiled deviously. "And in case he isn't found in the next century I'll become permanent Sea Goddess."

Cloud spun around, his eyes glowing a dark mako blue. "You did this didn't you, sea-hag?"

"Me? I wish bubble-brains. From now on you might want to treat me with a bit more respect, since I'm you're equal now. Haahaahaa!" Ursula guffawed. "I'll be in my new chambers, honey!" In a puff of wet sounding smoke she was gone.

"Badda-bing! Just like that she's back on top!" Hades said with his sharp-toothed smile. "Who knows, maybe there'll be an excuse for me to usher more souls into the underworld again. Huh, huh?" When no one seemed amused he muttered something about Zeus having a better sense of humor and then was also gone in his own inky cloud.

"Dear me, those two are dreadful." Rabbit said affirming what everyone else was thinking. "Anyway," He said shrugging it off like it was a shawl. "My Lords if you're going to do something I'd suggest doing it before the century ends. Ursula is right, the laws do state that if any major god is out of commission then next in line acts till there is cause to believe that god is gone, or till one full century passes."

"I know the laws Rabbit." Riku said irritatedly.

"Of course you do my liege." Rabbit said abiding him.

"Riku, that attitude won't help us find him any more quickly." Cloud said, anger at bay. "We'll have to mount a search, as you said, but not every god will be willing, some side with your brothers."

"Yeah," Roxas said dejectedly. "And Kadaj's only got a few more decades, then he'll be back to his old self, and we'll be without Sora."

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"So how'd it go?" Sora asked eating a ham sandwich, it turned out it was his day to cook.

"Well," Pence said not meeting Sora's eyes. "I started to tell him I really like him when he told me how he and this girl are on the rocks, and he doesn't even know if he likes her anyway."

Sora took another bite. "What's wrong with that? Everyone knows Hayner is bi."

"It's not that, Sora. Geez, sometimes I think you don't know anything about love." Pence's head hit the table with a _thump_. "Anyway, I'm probably not his type. He's going out with Ariel's sister."

"Which one?" Sora said with a mouth full of ham. Ariel had seven sisters, so to say that Pence was being vague was only the topping of the sundae.

"I don't know, the blonde one." Pence said in a huff.

"Aren't there like four blondes?" Sora asked, clueless.

"Yeah, something like that. Anyway, she's this miss petite thing, never eats more than an olive at school, and her chest is huge! She looks disproportioned to me."

"You don't like girls." Sora reminded him.

"Small details Sora." Pence said with his head still against the table. "Anyway, he'd never go for someone like me, someone so plain and fat." Sora's gaze softened, he knew Pence's problems with his weight. It wasn't even that he was big, not even slightly, maybe back when he was younger, but now he just didn't see himself any other way.

"If he doesn't like you the way you are something is wrong with him." Sora said feeling something prick in the back of his mind. "Besides, you aren't fat Pence. That's the last time I ever say that, I feel like a broken record."

"Yeah, well—"

"And if that was a remark on anorexia I'll never bring you another picture of Hayner." Sora spoke with finality. "Now how about some ice-cream?"

Pence got up from the table. "_Sor-rah, _diet, I'm on one."

"So what? You had a piece of bacon this morning."

"Being on a diet doesn't mean I can't eat one piece of bacon, it means I can't eat it in earnest."

Sora walked over to the freezer. "Whatever, I'm getting some ice-cream. Come on it's your favorite." Sora said holding the sweet and salty ice-cream box. Pence held his hands up in a cross.

"Be gone foul tempter." He said with a smile. There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it; you eat your ice-cream, pig."

"Oink, oink." Sora said scooping the blue desert into his bowl. He dug into his sweet and salty goodness when there was a slight shriek at the door. Sora dropped his spoon and ran to the living room. "What's going—" Standing at the door was Hayner and his brother Seifer.

"Hey Pence." Hayner said smiling goofily at the sound the raven haired boy had made. "Howdy Sora." He turned his smile on Sora and then looked back at the greeter.

Seifer didn't say much. "Runt." Was his greeting to both of them; not that that surprised them much.

"Wha-what-what're you doing here, H-Hayner?" Pence asked dumbfounded.

"Well, Barrows, you know from the football team, is throwing a party. I wanted to know if you wanted to come?"

"Uh, sure—yeah. When is it?" Pence asked.

"Now, actually, I just got the invite myself. You look ready, not going to put make-up or anything on are ya?" Hayner laughed.

"N-no, just got to grab some shoes." Pence said motioning to his bare feet.

"Oh, alright, mind if we wait?"

"Not at all." Pence began a brisk walk back to his room.

"Oh, Sora, you can come too, if you want." Hayner offered.

"Nah—" Sora was about to say.

"YES! He'll be coming too; we've just got to get some shoes!" Pence almost tackled Sora into the back room. He was breathing a little quickly and he immediately ripped off his headband. He combed his hair furiously, straightened his shirt out, pulled down a pair of jeans he liked and a pair of shoes to match. All of this before Sora even said a word.

"I've got my shoes on."

"God! Sora what am I going to do? What if this is like a date "date"?" Pence was almost hysterical.

"Then congratulations, you got him to come to you." Sora said idly admiring his chin hair, singular, in the mirror.

"No, what if I mess something up? Or," The raven haired boy gasped. "What if it isn't a date "date" and I do something stupid like assume it is a date "date" and try to make a move. What if he's homophobic?"

"He's bi." Sora reminded him.

"That means that he could be half homophobic!" Pence said stuffing the laces in the shoes. "How does this look?" He asked.

"I like it, keep the headband off, please." Sora said giving his simple jersey and jean combo a look of approval, less is more after all. "Come on, or he'll think you're actually putting make-up on."

"Stall for me please? I still have to find something to replace my headband." Pence said with puppy dog eyes. Sora sighed heavily and made the quick few steps back toward the living room.

"He's got it bad for you." Seifer was saying to Hayner.

"You think so? I mean I was getting that vibe, and me and Pruella just broke up and everything, but I think I've liked Pence for a little while now."

"You've got horrible taste." Seifer said, and a little bubble of anger crawled over Sora's skin.

"You're crazy, look at him, he's freaking cute." Hayner said with a wistful tone.

"I've always preferred handsome, plus, he's not exactly sculpted from stone."

"So? He's real; those extra skinny guys just don't do it for me."

"I really don't want to hear what does what for you, little brother, and your little boyfriend'd better hurry up, I've got a strange feeling that this party has a good supply of _punch._" Seifer's voice seemed to italicize that word. It was then that Sora decided to come back in.

"Pence is almost done, decided he had to pee." Sora supplied and sat down.

"Mm, so Sora, is, uh, Pence seeing anyone?" Hayner asked.

'_Real subtle_.' Sora thought. "No actually, which surprises me. He's freaking cute." Sora said in a voice hinting towards Hayner's.

"You heard that did you?" Hayner asked, blushing slightly.

"Yeah, it's cool though." Sora said laughing. Pence came back in the room, he had replaced his headband with a pair of aviator glasses, Sora's favorite pair actually, but he looked good so Sora opted not to say anything.

For a moment it looked like Hayner would jump Pence, then he reined it in. "I thought you were only putting shoes on?" He poked.

"Yeah, well I figured I'd get comfortable, you never told me how long we'd be out partying." Pence said slyly. Seifer stood.

"I'm going whether anyone else in this room is or not." He stood up and smoothed out his jacked, then adjusted his beanie then he walked out the door. The three of them exchanged glances before departing out of the dorm, Sora locked up behind them.

The music blared loudly, the beat pulsating through Sora's chest leaving him a bit light headed, or maybe it was because he was working on his fifth cup of punch, which he was starting to think wasn't punch but didn't care too much at this point. He had lost Pence somewhere with Hayner so at least he was in good hands. Currently he was dancing with some girl named Alison and some guy named Chase; it was a very weird, drunken dance that only looked good to all the other kids because they were about as hammered as Sora.

"Hey, Ali, we've got to go, come on!" A brunette girl shouted over the music. Alison thought it over for a moment then mouthed good-bye to Sora and Chase, leaving the two of them to bump and grind against each other.

"You're pretty hot." Chase said loudly in Sora's ear. Chase was your typical jock type, hair that covered the lowest part of his ear parted just so he could see out of it, a long toned torso, and legs for who knows how long.

"You're not so bad yourself." Sora said, flirting. He loved to flirt; boys, girls it didn't matter, although he was mostly a virgin if you were to ask him. Once he and this girl came really close but her dad came home early and he had to sneak out the back window pants-less, then another time him and this guy had gotten really hot and heavy when the guy decided that he was straight and that he had been fooled into the ordeal by Sora.

None of those times were going through his head now though; instead he was enjoying Chase's cologne. "What do you say we take this party upstairs?" Chase asked in a rather husky voice. Sora drained the last of his punch and was soon being led quickly to a different part of Thomas Barrows' house.

Chase's lips were trailing over the pulsing vein in his neck before they even pushed the door open. Sora was struggling to get the buttons of the guy's shirt open when gravity suddenly pushed him on a bed, or maybe that was Chase.

God he had a nice body; Sora ran his hands over the naked chest, the dark pink nubs and the tanned skin. The other brought his lips down on Sora again, grinding their pelvises together in an excruciatingly pleasant way.

Sora felt his own shirt rising over his head and just went with it; he continued to french his partner.

"You can't tell anyone on the team about this." Chase said as he began unbuckling Sora's pants.

"Yeah, yeah…" Sora said. "Nobody, got it." He was on autopilot. Chase seemed to be taking his time pulling Sora's pants down and then off, he felt Sora's hardness through the briefs, clutched it, rubbed. He pulled the elastic down and smiled at Sora. Taking the appendage in his mouth he bobbed his head up and down, licked and sucked Sora to completion quite quickly. Swallowing the product of his labor he pulled down his own pants.

"Your turn." He said rather deviously. The boy had a nice sized organ, thick and pulsing. Sora took it into his mouth as best he could, there wasn't a definite taste to it but it wasn't unpleasant. When he began his ministrations the door burst open.

"Chase! Dude!" Sora froze, so did Chase. Standing at the door was half the football team, the guy in the front, Barrows, was holding a beer bong.

"Fuck." Chase said under his breath. They stood there for a minute, Sora refused to turn around; it was now that through his haze he began to remember who Chase was exactly. Gunter, his last name was Gunter, like the same family who donated thousands of dollars a semester to the school. Chase Günter was the same kid who called any guy hugging another guy a fag, the same kid who shook people down if they were in his way while they were walking. Chase Gunter was not good people, and Sora had just been caught sucking him off.

"This is so going on the YouTube!" Someone said.

"Jason get that fucking camera out of here." Someone else shouted.

"Shut the fucking door!" Chase finally said and pushed Sora on the floor. "Thanks, fag." He said with a sneer and picked his pants up off the floor. When the door closed he turned on Sora. "Look, you were sucking me off, got it? I had too much to drink, didn't think anything about it, understand?" Chase said with a ferocious look in his eye.

"If I refuse?" Sora snarled grabbing his own clothes aware that the other's eyes weren't yet off of his nakedness. He pulled his pants on then his shirt feeling the slightest bit better about the situation; at least he wouldn't have to face the people naked now.

"Then I'll make sure that the three years you're here are a fucking hell."

Sora wanted to ball his fist up and just punch the guy he had been so close to a second ago. "You know you can't buy your way out of this, right?" Sora said with an idea popping up in his head. He put his hand on Chase's chest again (damning himself for thinking how nice it felt) and pulled him closer till he was up against the wall, right next to the door.

"My parents have more than enough money to make this go away." Chase said with poorly concealed arousal. Sora pressed himself against Chase.

"Then what's a few more minutes?" He asked, kissing the boy on the lips again then pulling away slyly.

"Fucking tease." Chase said in a deep voice, he had been hooked again. A serious look passed over his face. "Remember our agreement?" He asked, conflicted with arousal and his reputation.

"Yeah," Sora said sweetly. "I promise to remember everything." When Chase went to kiss him again he opened the door slightly, the group outside pushed against it thinking that someone had been coming out.

"You pervert!" Sora shoved Chase away against the bed. "I told you I had too much to drink, what part of you can't buy sex from me don't you understand?" Sora put on his best disgusted face and turned toward the mob, which parted for him. He looked back over his shoulder at the jackass on the bed. His arousal was sticking up out of his unzipped pants and he looked dazed like his entire world had just shifted.

**Author's Notes**: Well, I'm going to end it here. So just a reminder, this fiction is rated **M **as in mature audiences. Don't like what I put in there? Don't read it; it's as simple as that. Anyway, I'll have four out soon. Peace y'all…Hitome-Chan


	4. Chapter 4

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes**: HEY! It's-a me Hitome! Anyway, looks like we're four chapters in and loving it…at least I am anyway. I don't have much to say but that this story is rated mature for a reason so please don't let the pace of it fool you, it's tricky that way. Oh and these author's notes are prewritten mostly, so if they seem a bit expectant it's because I thought I would wait a while before posting each chapter, but it seems that since my time with the internet is never exactly determinable I'm posting them quite frequently, I want to slow down so it can get more reads, but that's just selfish.

**Chapter Four**: Forte

What Sora never understood was how a collective of students couldn't get enough information together to write a good book report, but when it came to gossip and idle prater they seemed to know things before they happened.

"So did you really try to seduce him?" A girl was asking Sora as he walked through the hallways of Destiny Island Academy. He had endured this the entire day so he was lucky this was his fourth period. "But that can't be right," She continued. "Because I heard you sucker punched him when he tried to feel you up, so, like which one is it, Sora?" The thing was he had never met this girl before. Never seen her around the hallways, never even caught a glance of her, but she was trying to shake him down for information that was none of her business.

"Alright…what was your name again?" Sora asked rage drenching his words.

"Nikky," Said Nikky. "With two k's."

"Alright Nikky with two k's, I didn't sucker punch him, he made the first move, I don't like you, and I'm going home now. Good-bye." Sora turned at the door and stormed through leaving Nikky with her mouth hanging open. Sora hadn't seen Leon for the entire day, there had been a sub, so he was at least happy he didn't have to deal with talking about it with him.

Walking the campus was no easy task either, everywhere he turned someone was pointing, or whispering to a friend whenever he passed by. At long last he finally made it to his dorm, which was the third building from the main office, and he plopped his bag down on their couch and makeshift company bed.

"Hey Sora!" Pence said cheerfully from his room, poking his head out of the corner to give the brunet an affirmative nod. A hand came from behind Pence and waved. "'Sup, Sora?" Hayner asked. One good thing that did come from the party was the epic get together of Pence and Hayner. They had gotten their own room and instead of doing what some certain protagonists were doing they sat down like actual people and, you guessed it: talked. They got to know each other very well, but Pence said they should just hang out for a little while before they made it official, he didn't want to be a rebound.

Sora walked back to Pence's room, the first thing he noticed was that Hayner was shirtless and the only article of clothing he wore was his jeans. "Why is he half-naked?" Sora couldn't resist.

"I came over right after basketball, I was hot." Hayner answered his eyes never leaving Pence's television screen. "God! Let me win just once!" He yelled, Sora focused on the screen to find that they were playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a fun and addicting fighting game.

Sora also noticed how close they were sitting to each other, Pence laying just underneath Hayner. It was strange that the blond had grown so much from the previous year, but now he practically towered over both Sora and Pence, though they were relatively short. "Why would I do that?" Pence asked deviously, and was quite obviously the happiest person in the world. "I get to ask you another question now."

"But I only got to ask you one question, and it was stupid, let's say I won this time?" Hayner urged. Pence conceded, not being able to withstand his own method of the puppy dog eyes. "Alright, but ask me a better question then what my mom's name is." He said putting down the controller.

"Geez, ask one bad question and you're condemned for life." Hayner said with a smile. "Kay, what do you like best about me?" A cocky smile formed over his lips as he waited for the answer. Pence blushed a deep crimson as he thought it over, Sora noticed that he was wearing that headband again and scowled at it, it irked him to no end that he wore it, but there was no justification behind his hate for the thing. Pence seemed to like it.

"I really like your eyes." Pence admitted. Hayner looked confused.

"My eyes?" He said blinking unconsciously. "That's so girly, you were supposed to say my muscles," Hayner flexed dramatically and smiled up at Pence. The blush across his face didn't lighten.

"Well yeah," He said a little louder than a whisper. "they're nice, but your eyes are so breathtaking, I really like looking in them." It was Hayner's turn to blush, he turned away back to the screen.

"I won't lose again, the next questions are all mine, but butch up you're answers a bit, I don't want you being all mushy." Pence nodded looking at the floor.

"I-I'll try." He said.

"Hey," Sora said walking over and punching Hayner in the arm. "he was just telling the truth, something you'd do well to learn how to do." Hayner switched his line of sight to Sora.

"I didn't mean anything by it, y'know, it's just that no one ever complimented me like that, it was weird." Sora thought that over for a moment.

"It made you feel weird you mean, you enjoyed the compliment itself, but left a weird feeling inside of you." Hayner nodded.

"Yeah, I guess, that was how it was." Hayner's face was a direct display of the fact that he was thinking, concentrating. "But it made me feel really good too." He admitted slowly.

Sora sat on the floor and watched them play the next game. It was obvious that Pence was letting Hayner win, he didn't dodge when he normally would, hardly used his special attacks, and didn't even make an effort to recover when he was knocked off stage. Hayner still barely won, but he was all smiles as he looked down at Pence who looked completely dumbfounded at the fact that he had lost.

"Alright," Hayner said eagerly. "Uh, how long have you liked me?" As soon as the question left his mouth Pence went pale. He hadn't been prepared for such a direct question, or such an easy one to answer.

"I—uh—" He stammered but Hayner didn't seem to notice, patiently awaiting the answer. "Fr-freshmen year." Pence said completely disarmed, he also patiently awaited the response to his answer.

"That long, huh?" Hayner asked, thinking it over, playing with the hem of his shorts without knowing it. "Guess I'm kinda of blind to this kind of stuff." He said with his signature grin of stupidity.

They played again and again, Sora watched and listened for as long as he could stand it and finally made his way back to the living room to start his homework.

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Yazoo twirled the pistol in his fingers, sometimes changing it to a different handgun, sometimes a Mac 10, sometimes a .20 caliber, his boredom was unraveling faster and faster as the seconds ticked on, this was the year that Kadaj regained his sense of self. Two centuries had passed, and even though his thrones were filled with minor gods Yazoo knew Kadaj would kill them both without second thought.

"Brother," Loz' voice came, gruff and unintelligent. "will he be happy to see us? Surely he will, we tried to help him right? Tried to break the curse." Loz' voice broke a bit.

"Don't cry, Loz." Yazoo said flippantly.

"I'm not crying!" was the response.

"Anyway," Yazoo pressed onward. "He will be very happy to see us, unlike us he shall be unchanged by the ways of time, will be liken to the old ways, so it is our duty to teach him, as his siblings, do you understand."

Loz made a sound of understanding in his throat the he added: "And I wasn't crying." Yazoo smiled knowingly to his older brother.

"Of course not."

Suddenly the doors of the Jenova house burst open, standing there was a mirror of the two men already inside, his hair long from the banishment touching his ankles, his eyes were a murderous blue, his head twisted this way and that like a bird of prey expecting a meal but not finding one.

"Brother," Yazoo stepped forward; he was a bit perturbed that Kadaj had yet to notice their presence.

"Where is the Love God?" Kadaj's voice was ragged, it sounded like an out of key melody.

"We pushed him from the sky, with a little help from Maleficent's winds."

Kadaj finally turned the oceanic gaze on Yazoo. "You did what?" He asked, his robes of the cumulous cloud swaying around him in the slight breeze.

"It was for revenge, brother," Loz said hopefully. "We could not let him get away with doing this to you, even if you kind of raped him."

There was not a second to blink when Kadaj was on Loz, he had been a good fifteen feet away but now his nose was pressed had against Loz'. "I did no such thing." He spat viciously. "He was begging for it, at the fountain his robes were rolled up so haphazardly, but I knew he had done it for me, when he spoke to me his voice was so soft, when he looked at me his gaze was so warm, that boy has played you all for a fool if you would believe such a blatant lie."

Yazoo looked down on his brother and patted his back, in doing so the robes became tight, black leather like his and Loz'. "What reason would he have to lie? Father caught you, if you remember."

"He saw the end result of a botched speech." Kadaj said cutting any words Yazoo may have had out with a look. "Do you have any idea where I might find the Love God?"

"No brother, we merely pushed, he fell so fast we could not keep track, and there has not been a trace of his power for years. Three decades and one year to be precise."

Kadaj nodded taking the information in. "Well, first things first, I must kill who ever has taken my positions."

"I will gladly take you to both of them." Loz said happy his brother didn't seem as angry with him.

"That would be most convenient, my brother." Kadaj said darkly.

"One goes by the name of Merlin; I heard he was once a great magician."

"They just let any human with a small amount of talent have immortality these days." Yazoo decided as they walked to Merlin's chambers, soon to be ex-chambers.

"The other one?" Kadaj asked turning his green gaze on Yazoo.

"Selena is her name," Yazoo said thinking. "Though not many know it, she appears to young girls calling herself their Fairy Godmother."

"Then Merlin has taken my powers of Chaos?"

"Yes," Yazoo answered. "When they were handed out he boasted that he and he alone could handle such a destructive force." A smile spread across Yazoo's face. "He almost went mad as soon as it was coursing through his veins, screaming and clawing at himself and others, rolling around in a crazed frenzy, with time he has gotten a better grasp on them, but just barely so, at least he can speak properly now."

"Then this Selena, this Fairy Godmother, after I have dealt with the magician where can I find her?" Kadaj's eyes were surveying the entirety of Kingdom Hearts, the moon waned luxuriously in the sky and the stars sparkled brightly. "That is the wonderful part, she is his wife." Yazoo explained.

Suddenly Kadaj's lips were dry with excitement and he licked them in deep thought, he was shaking with the thoughts of revenge, thoughts of death. It was all too deliciously simple, had Sora survived he would be weakened, and it would be he who would be cursed, but not for two centuries, no, for all eternity, he would be forever torn between the realities of madness and sanity, stuck on a bridge of conscious and a gap of uncertainty. Kadaj licked his lips again moistening them. Then the matter of his father and his grandmother would be taken care of shortly thereafter. Yes, all too simple.

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"Have you heard the news?" Larxene, the Goddess of Lightning, asked no one in particular. Currently she, and a few other minor gods, were all gathered about in the home of the Bringer discussing current events. "Kadaj is back."

Piglet, hand servant to Lady Aerith herself and the God of Innocence, gasped in terror.

"N-n-not h-him!" He stuttered as he tended to do when he was scared. Aerith placed a hand atop his head and soothed his cheeks softly.

"There, there Piglet," She cooed.

"B-but Lady Aerith—" She shushed him.

"His punishment is over, according to the law all is forgotten, I only hope his youngest brother can remember that." A rare look of sullenness and despair crossed her face. "My son," She said silently with tears in her eyes, in a flash of blinding light she was gone leaving Piglet cowering against the leg of her chair.

"T-th-the Lady A-Aerith is n-not fee-feeling well, she-she is sad to r-re-report she m-must leave." Piglet managed out, no one seemed to argue with his proclamation.

"What's this?" Axel's voice burned into the air, the room they were in was impromptu, four blank walls and no exits, only their thoughts were keeping it together. "A gathering and no one told me, what a shame." He appeared in a wisp of smoke, tall and lean, flaming red hair flowing ever so ruggedly down his back.

"Lord Axel," Zoe, an envoy of Tinkerbell, the queen of the Faeries, curtsied elegantly. Her short brown dress swept across her thighs, only the queen was allowed to wear the coveted color of green, her auburn hair was pulled back into a haphazard ponytail, and her chartreuse eyes stared down at the floor as she bowed. The small faerie was as big as Axel thumb but he smiled widely at her. "Zoe, what, Tink can't show her royally silent self around here?" It was true that Queen Tinkerbell had taken a vow of silence to be with an elf boy, but the vermin had run off with a human girl and now the queen never spoke to anyone.

"My Lord, please don't speak so harshly, our queen has taken much grief, I could not bear to see her so verbally abused." After a quick apology Axel's amused eyes swept across the rest of the people gathered around.

"Oh great," Axel said with his cat-like green eyes falling squarely into ocean blue ones. "They invited the God of Rain," He said with a bit of disdain.

"Always a pleasure, _Axel_." Demyx made a point of not referring to Axel as 'Lord' considering that Demyx was older than he but less recognized. Axel broke into a grin.

"Well you just gonna stand there?" He demanded and Demyx rose walking the short few steps to stand before Axel, who was a full head taller than him. Everyone in the room took an unneeded breath. Demyx finally smiled just as wide as Axel and threw his arms around him.

"It's good to see you, dunderhead." The Rain God said wholeheartedly.

"Yeah, yeah, spend a couple hundred years on a date with your lover and people seem to miss you." Demyx rolled his eyes and looked behind Axel, sure enough there was Roxas.

"Good to see you too Roxie." Demyx said hugging the other boy tightly. Roxas returned the gesture and held Demyx at an arm's length.

"It really has been too long." He said all smiles.

Someone cleared their throat; it was Mushu, the dragon. "'xcuse me, but I thought we were talking about ole Kadaj being back, not greetin' the superiors." Mushu was a summoner, someone who could call the gods from anywhere he was, he'd been stationed in China for the past fifteen hundred years, but since then he'd come back to Kingdom Hearts for a little 'R&R' as he called it.

"Good evening to you too, Sir Mushu." Roxas said bending down to his level.

"Yeah, yeah, don't try that buddy pal act on me," Mushu smiled a toothy grin and turned his obsidian eyes on Roxas. "Good evening, Lord Roxas." He finally said, with the slightest bow. Roxas smiled at him and walked over to his mother's seat, he tapped the back of the chair twice and the woman reappeared in a bright light. The room was silent again.

"Hello, mother." Roxas' voice was tender and gentle as it always was when he saw Aerith. He knew his appearance made her heart ache for her youngest son, truth be told Roxas didn't look at his own reflection anymore either. Aerith's voice shook with the effort of keeping it cheerful.

"Hello my son," She said reaching up and stroking his face. "I did not mean to leave so suddenly, it just wasn't respectable for someone of my status to be seen weeping in public."

"L-Lady Aerith, everyone h-here understands your tr-troubles." Piglet said patting the back of her hand with his.

"Yeah mom, I mean, we all miss…_him_." Roxas chose not to say his brother's name, around his family it was almost taboo.

"Sora. His name is Sora." A new voice called, it was as cold as a winter's breeze, and as icy as well. "And I've got some news about him." Everyone turned and at the sign of silver hair there was a collective gasp, but as the eyes travelled farther down Riku was found under the mop of moonlight.

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Sora found out the hard way that walking in on two of your friends making out can be very awkward. Pence never closed his door before, which should have been the first clue, so he walked right on in. What was more disturbing about the matter is that Sora was pretty sure that if he came in any later there would not have been as many clothes between them as there had been, which had not been a lot.

"Sorry! Sora I'm so sorry, Jesus! I—we—Hayner say something please, I'm too embarrassed." Pence tried, his face was beet red.

"What? It was his fault; there was a tie on your door."

"Wait, when did you put a tie on my door…when did you bring a tie with you?"

"That's completely beside the point," Hayner said smoothly. "the point is instead of apologizing like you did anything wrong we should get back in there, I'm sure little Sora gets it now." Hayner grabbed Pence gently by the arm and nibbled on his earlobe a bit. The tall blond still didn't have a shirt on and wasn't the least bit embarrassed about his pants being undone and backwards; Pence on the other hand was just slightly askew in his clothing.

"Look, guys, I was just shocked is all, I mean Pence you said you weren't going to be…and Hayner, dear God Hayner put a shirt on." Sora couldn't help but notice how hard it was for Pence to stay coherent with Hayner wrapping his arms around him the way he was and flexing slightly.

"Why, am I making you hot?" Hayner asked raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry, you're not my type." Sora said not missing a beat.

"And what type might that be?" Hayner asked slightly deflated.

"Why, taken of course." Sora said with a wink and a smile.

"See, he's fine, back to your room, I think I found a spot." Pence got even redder at the words coming from Hayner's mouth.

"What?" Sora asked a little concerned.

"On his neck, right between the collarbone, you should have heard the sounds he was making, mewing like a little kitty—"

"That is more than enough, Hayner." Pence said trying to control his embarrassment. "See we were still playing Brawl before you barged in,"

"Sorry…" Sora said.

"It's okay, anyway, we were playing Brawl and Hayner 'won' again. Anyway he asked me if I had any…if I had a place I like to be kissed. I told him not particularly because I didn't just kiss anyone and then he jumped me saying something like he wasn't just anyone." Pence elbowed Hayner lightly in the ribs. "If you hadn't come in when you did I don't know what might have happened—"

"I do." Hayner said obstinately and kissed Pence's earlobe again.

"I don't think I can control myself around him." Pence said flatly pushing Hayner away a little and taking a seat on his floor away from his current love interest.

"All the better to get you back in here my dear."

"Is that all you think about, sex?" Pence asked laughing a little.

"Yeah, I guess so; it must be a guy thing." Hayner said decidedly. It was at that moment a pillow collided with his face. "Oh, you did not." He said warningly. Another one tried to hit him but he dodged and grabbed the first one thrown. "Okay, now it's on." He said with a wide, devious smile on his face.

After a few good pillows were ruined and the boys were covered in white fluff and feathers there came a knock at the door. "I'll get it." Sora said turning to go answer it when he spun around quickly. "And please try to keep more clothes on than what I'm seeing now, I would hate for someone to get pregnant." With a wink the brunet went to the door.

"Who is it?" He called out.

"Professor Maleficent, there has been a noise complaint, Sora Vertoli." Sora almost squeaked out a response. Maleficent, God how he hoped that wasn't her real name, had come to their door; it must have been way past twelve. He opened the door and there she stood, her midnight black hair falling in greasy lines down her back, green tinged skin almost glowing in the night and her black eyes seemed to be so ancient, knowing a much larger amount than whatever Sora could ever hope to.

"Sorry Professor," Sora started but she held up a finger, a pink nail polish painted finger.

"Your 'sorrys' may work on some teachers, _boy_, but not on me. I'm immune to your powers of the heart." Maleficent looked like something out of a horror movie standing eerily straight as she was, her eyes never blinked and for a moment Sora could imagine her in black robes with a witch's staff whilst she was performing some underworldly task instead of her navy blue pajamas and half-spectacled glasses with equally blue fuzzy slippers. She held a mug of coffee in one hand and the other was balled into a tight fist.

"I'm sorry—but what are you talking about?" Sora had the very strong urge to slam the door but didn't, something really bad might have happened then.

"Don't play innocent, Love. This is a warning I suggest you disappear again like you did that last time we met, or I might not be as lenient as I was." Maleficent jabbed her pink fingernail into his forehead for emphasis.

"I swear I have no idea what you're talking about." Sora said with the utmost confusion. He must have been really, really tired, at least he hoped that was why this was happening.

"The tide is turning, Sea King, already the House of Jenova is being undertaken by one of it's own blood, the Bringer will not protect you as he had in previous years, even he is beyond helping you when he is stuck in the realm of the deceased."

"Professor?" Sora said rethinking the idea of slamming the door. "you're really starting to freak me out, we'll tone it down, in fact, we were just on our way to bed."

There was a flash in Maleficent's eyes, a smile twisted on her horribly beautiful lips and she edged forward till Sora's back was against the wall. Her hand shot out with incredible speed and wrapped firmly against his neck.

"Listen closely Love God, the time of peace is over, chaos, well not like my lord, but a different kind of chaos will reign. The Gods of old have become soft in their age, especially those of your kin, I will have my rightful position next to Lord Kadaj, but first I must report back. When I return I don't expect you to be here, I do not tell you this because I'm fond of you but because our lord has asked specifically for you himself. I cannot guarantee that your life will be spared again if I see your face, or if I feel your essence around."

Sora was at a loss for words, even if he wanted to speak he wouldn't be able to Maleficent was crushing his wind pipe with her monstrous grip.

"Save yourself," Maleficent said dropping her mug of coffee and slapping Sora with her free hand. "Send me back to the Kingdom the quick way, push me back, defend yourself and push me back." For a moment Sora saw something very reptile about his history teacher, her tongue was skinny and long, it flickered out of her mouth like a snake's, her eyes were yellow where the white should have been, and it looked like scales had cracked their way into her skin. Then he blinked and they were gone.

"Professor Maleficent?!" Pence's voice felt like it was coming from down a long hallway in Sora's ears. His vision was swimming from the lack of oxygen.

"Damn it." Maleficent muttered, she gave Sora's neck another squeeze and then turned out the door. "I really hate going the long way." In a delirious state Sora could swear he saw his history teacher disappear into a flock of ravens.

"Sora, Sora are you alright?" That was the last voice Sora heard before everything went black.

The sounds around him sounded like they were being filtered through a babbling brook into his mind. It took a lot of concentration on his part to figure out that it was people talking. The beep of the heart monitor was oddly comforting, it told him he wasn't dead, and aside from the ache around his throat he felt a-okay. Opening an eye he found he was in a hospital room, his eyes settled on a pair of hard brown pupils staring back at him, then a pair of soft, warm ones, and finally a pair of worried blue eyes.

"Uh…" Before he could say anything Leon held his hand up.

"You were attacked by Beverly Maleficent, the history teacher, she got a way but we're searching everywhere for her. Pence called the police and Hayner carried you out to his car, then they called me and drove you here. You're to rest a few more days before I decide I want you doing anything strenuous like thinking so just relax."

Sora let out of a breath of air. "I—"

"Don't you listen? You aren't to speak until your throat is healed properly, the doctor says it took a lot of strain and there will be some soreness but your okay, I don't believe him so you'll be staying here till I decide otherwise." Sora was about to protest when Leon held up his hand. "This isn't up for discussion, you can thank Pence for bringing you your school work, we won't be here for long." Leon handed him a drink, which he took gratefully after he finished he handed the plastic cup back to his cousin.

"Like I said we won't be here long, just long enough for those sleeping pills in the water you drunk to start working, after that I'll stop in periodically to check on you."

Sora wanted to say something and was about to when he yawned widely. The act burned his throat fiercely and he ended up in a coughing fit. Leon handed him another glass of water which he eyed suspiciously.

"That one is clean." Pence said encouragingly. After which Sora drowned it.

"Anyway, the drugs should be taking effect, I'll leave it to you two to decide when you want to leave, but I have some papers to grade." Leon looked like he wanted to say more but instead settled for putting a hand on Sora's head and ruffling his hair a bit then walking away, the clop-clop of his boots echoed down the empty halls.

"Alright…so what the hell was all that?" Hayner asked when he couldn't hear Leon's boots anymore.

"Leon," Sora coughed again and Pence poured him some more water out of a container sitting on the portable table hospitals were so accustomed to having for bringing food on. After drinking the water down he tried again. "Leon has always been like that when I get sick, or hurt. One time when I had a fever he made me stay in bed a week after it was broken just to be sure." Sora drunk more to soothe his burning throat.

"Wow, I thought he was a hardass, but he's got a maternal side." Hayner laughed.

"Sora what was that about with Maleficent, what did you say to make her attack you like that?" Pence asked, ignoring Hayner completely.

"Let's see, I think I said something along the lines of 'hello' then she went ape-shit on me."

"Well she was saying something to you I couldn't understand, it was like she was hissing at you in a really low whisper." Pence said.

"It was crazy, she was calling me stuff like the Love King or something like that."

"Sounds like she's got a…crush." Hayner ducked the pillow aimed at his head after that remark.

"Douchebag." Sora coughed. "Anyway, I could hardly understand what she was saying myself, but I know I don't want to see her any time soon. I think she's going somewhere faraway."

"Let's hope so." Pence said in a small voice. "I was scared for you, Sora."

"I'm okay, why don't you two go back to the room, I can feel that stuff Leon gave me starting to work." Sora said yawning again.

"Alright, we'll see you tomorrow." Pence patted Sora on the shoulder and Hayner clasped hands with him as they turned out the door. Sora lay back on the uncomfortable hospital bed and drifted off into a fitful sleep where he dreamed about dragons and snakes devouring him.

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"Well, what news do you have?" Axel asked after the initial silence. He noticed how Riku was wearing his black traveler's cloak.

"I was going to check on the information myself, but I figured that his mother had a right to know as well, and you too Roxas." Riku said staring at the world through aquamarine eyes. "Sora is alive, I found a trace of his power somewhere in the lower United States, he's on an island. I don't know much else besides that, but I caught a glimpse of him from that bit of magic and my heart soared. I can't stay much longer or I'll lose the trail, I'll bring him back Lady Aerith, then we can all be happy again."

Aerith's eyes welled up with tears again, but she didn't cry she stood up her regal light pink and white clothing falling about her gracefully. "I'm going with you, I would do anything to see him again."

"I can't let you do that, Lady Aerith." Riku said too quickly and their words clashed together, making Aerith's eyes momentarily light with a small fire.

"Why not?" She asked heatedly. "Do not play with my emotions son of Jenova, I may not be a more Superior God, but I'll be darned if I do not go with you."

"La-lady Aerith, perhaps you should seat yourself, you haven't been well." Piglet worried about, though he was not even as tall as her calf he still protested that she sit by tugging on her dress.

"Mother, please sit, let him explain." Roxas turned from her and looked at Riku, their eyes met. "The reason you disallow my mother to join you in finding her son, my brother, tell it to me." His voice wasn't gentle anymore like it had been with Aerith, instead it was as hard as steel, his shoulders were held back and his head was high, this was the face of one god meeting his equal.

"It is a dangerous journey, God of Death, something I could not impose on _anyone _in your family." By anyone it was obvious that Riku was also referring to Roxas and his eldest brother.

"How easily you forget, before he was your lover Sora was my brother, he was my friend. Before you even knew of us he was my earthly companion, you may know one side of my brother, but you have no say in whether I—anyone in my family journeys with you."

Riku sighed heavily. "I cannot allow Lady Aerith to go, Ursula is looking to take over Sora's throne eternally, I would ask her to stay here and litigate for her son till I can bring him back."

"That is wise." Aerith decided finally heeding to Piglet's incessant pulling and finding her chair. "But you must understand my eagerness, you are to take Cloud, he will assist you in your journey for he is far more powerful than I."

Riku nodded. "Yes, milady."

"I'm going too, there is absolutely nothing you could say, I would sooner deal with that old bag of seaweed Ursula with my fists before I let her intimidate me into staying."

The God of the Earth gave Roxas a hard look. "Roxas, do you think you could control your touch on Earth?" The Death God growled lowly.

"Yes, I have long since passed the stage in my life where my power fluxes of my control." He said between bared teeth.

"Humans are sensitive; I only have their best interest at heart."

"I would slay ten thousand to find my brother, ten million if need be."

"If you say it I will believe you." Riku decided after a long silence.

"Then lead on."

"Hey, hey, hold on eager beavers, Roxas isn't going anywhere without me." Axel said putting an arm around the boy's waist. "Besides, we'll cover more ground if we go in teams, you and sulky and me and Roxas."

Anger flashed across Riku's face. "Is anyone else going?" He asked irritatedly.

"Ooh, you know what, it has been too long since I went to Earth."

"Mushu you just got back." Zoe said disapprovingly.

"We may need the Summoner if things do not go as planned." Roxas said holding his hand out for Mushu to crawl into.

"What? I ain't no lizard, I don't do that freaky tongue thing, don't degrade me by tryin' to carry me around, I'm perfectly capable of crawling onto your shoulder myself, thank you very much." And he did just that.

"Summon Cloud so we may be on our way, I've wasted more than enough time dealing with everyone." Riku said angrily.

"Can do." In a poof of smoke Mushu produced a gong and gave it one loud bang, in an instant Cloud was standing before them. After explaining to him the situation the four of them prepared to descend to earth.

**Author's Notes: **Well, this looks like a good place to end a nice long chapter. I really like the way this is going so far, it's a little too fast for me, but I can deal with it. Feedback? Suggestions? Cries of outrage? Well, put it into a message or a review. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am writing it.

Hitome-Chan


	5. Chapter 5

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes: **Pretty sure I'm in love with this story, go figure. Well, I don't have much to say so I'll let you say it all in the reviews I know you'll leave. XD

**Chapter Five**: Scales

"The brat isn't dead yet? Why in the seven seas not you pile of pus filled pustules?" Ursula asked, quite perturbed at the lack of any real service, she pointed a stubby finger at Maleficent.

"You shall not speak to me in such a manner, I am not so underneath you that I could not crush you." Maleficent answered back, she was seething. "You will address me with more respect before I continue my report to you, do you understand?" The brooding woman held her staff in her hand a little tighter to prove she meant business.

"Why yes," Ursula said through clenched teeth, she still did not have to power as of yet to eliminate Maleficent or the insignificant cockroach wouldn't even be able to tell up from down. "Of course, my dear, I was merely impatient. It isn't for my own benefit that you find the boy you know; it is for that of Lord Kadaj's, he wishes to crush that little starfish between his thumb."

"Lord Kadaj will simply have to wait a bit longer, the boy is not who he was, he does not remember himself and I am sure my lord would not approve of his revenge if the boy was not in his right state of mind." Maleficent's robes swept behind her as she advanced on Ursula. "When you are named the Goddess of the Sea do not forget our bargain, I should very much like my own throne and had I the leeway it would be so, but for now remember I am as much an equal to you as any the Bringer's lineage." Maleficent was an inch away from Ursula's face. "You are but a minor inconvenience in all of this, _Lady _Ursula, you would do well to think on who you would make your enemy." With that Maleficent disappeared in a flock of crows.

"Well, that was just beautiful babe, gotta say I love that goth look on her, very now, very hip." Hades' voice echoed around her.

"What is it, Hades, I'm a particularly busy fish, I haven't got time for your games." Ursula grumbled, still a little shaken from Maleficent's words.

"Hey, babe, you know me. If there wasn't need I wouldn't be around, but that's just how it goes someone needs something and poof," He appeared in a wisp of black smoke. "there I am." Ursula watched unenthusiastically, raising a shrimp that was still kicking around to her lips and sucking the head off of it.

"What do you want?" She asked chewing her delicacy.

"It's like this," Hades began. "The way me and some of the other minor gods see it, if old mean and green can get a crown with you in office why can't we? Say we have the higher ups push a few more of Aerith's kids off the side of the proverbial mountain?" The blue flames dancing in Hades' hair seemed to spark higher with his excitement.

"Why pray tell, would I do that?" Ursula leaned forward on her throne, it was made of solid sea foam and was colored accordingly, curly-cue designs where the waves crashed and met ran all throughout.

"You know you look particularly lovely today, did you do something different with your tentacles?" When Ursula didn't reply Hades sighed. "Alright, trump card time; if you don't help us we'll get old Lovey-Dovey back up here ourselves, then we'll let Cloud and Riku know who it was exactly who planned to steal his throne once he was out of the picture."

Ursula's tentacles wrapped around each other in a panic, she smiled her sweetest sharp toothed grin possible. "Now Hades, there's no need to get your seaweed in a clump, dear, of course I will help you all get your positions amongst the gods, it _was _high time someone recognized us."

"You the man, er, woman, er, fish-woman, babe." The Ex-God of Death clucked his tongue and disappeared in the same fashion as he came.

"So he wants to move up does he?" Ursula asked no one in particular as she summoned her spell cabinet up from the briny depths. "I'll send him soaring a couple thousand feet, then we'll see how much he likes heights." She cackled evilly as her cauldron began boiling.

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"Come on, Sora, please." It wasn't enough that Sora was enduring ridicule because of this boy, but now he was asking him to do something like this. "If my parents ever found out what happened I won't get my inheritance, they'll cut me off!" Chase pleaded, his brown eyes were big and innocent, but Sora knew never to trust those kind.

"First of all you're an ass for even suggesting it, secondly, I don't know why I'm even talking to you, and third, kindly fuck off. Besides what do I care if you get cut off?" Sora began to storm away when Chase caught him by the wrist.

"It's not just that, alright, my dad would literally disown me if he found out I was making out with a guy, but not before he got some good punches in. Look, okay, I'm sorry for what happened, I was really hammered and the guys on the team don't even care, anyway, I think I really like you, and if you did this for me I would know that you kind of liked me too, I know you liked me before we got caught." Chase backed Sora against a wall smoothly, placing his body against Sora and leaning over in his ear to whisper to him.

"I said no." Sora said with wavering conviction, Chase sounded really sincere, and really scared, but what he had done at the party was unforgivable. As if reading his mind the jock boy whispered:

"You don't have to forgive me for what I did, just give me another chance to prove I can be a better person."

Sora almost collapsed under his sweet touch, something about the feelings Chase was portraying was making it difficult for Sora, he felt strong and weak at the same time, felt empowered and willing to help, but his brain kept telling him it would be wrong, that he would just get hurt.

"I'll think about it." Sora finally breathed.

"They'll be here the day after tommorrow; I'll come by your dorm to see if you made your decision." Chase pecked Sora on the cheek; the act was lackluster considering he looked around to make sure no one was watching. Sora felt sick that he had enjoyed the bit of attention he had gotten from Chase, like he was praising Sora, begging him; which he sort of had been doing.

"You don't look so good." A voice called he whirled around to see Kairi standing beside him.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a bit light headed." Sora decided.

"Do you want me to go get Mr. Leonhart?" Kairi asked placing a hand on his forehead.

"No! No, don't do that, he's still making me carry a water bottle around a week after that…incident with the teacher." Kairi laughed a little, the girl was cute Sora wondered why he didn't try to get with her, he'd dated girls before.

"You know you're like a brother to me Sora, I would hate to see anything happen to you." Kairi announced as she took his arm in hers and walked him down the hall. "So what has you so light headed? Did you try to think again?"

Sora managed a smile. "No, its something some stupid boy said to me."

"Hey, no matter how pretty you are you're still one of those stupid boys."

"Why does everyone keep calling me that? Pretty? You know what Chase Gunter asked me?" Sora looked at Kairi helplessly.

"What?" She asked feeling curious.

"He asked me to dress up as a girl and pretend to be his girlfriend while his parents were here." Sora lit up as red as a Christmas light.

"He-he what?" Kairi asking unable to contain her laughter.

"You heard me, don't make me repeat myself." Sora hung his head. "I said I would think about it." He added deepening a few shades.

"Sora that's sooo bad!" Kairi laughed. "You can't be seriously thinking about doing it? After what he did?"

"He was an ass."

"No, he was an asshole, even worse."

"Fine, he was an asshole, but he sounded really, really sorry when he apologized, and he's so cute." Sora protested defending himself.

"Anything with a nice butt is cute to you." Kairi prodded.

"But no one has _his _butt, believe me I've seen it." Sora said smiling. "Should I do it, Kai, I want to help him but I don't think I could fool his parents."

"Well why doesn't he ask an actual girl?"

"Because the school told them there was an incident that occurred between _Ms_. Sora Vertoli and their son, it was a complete typo but the school secretary said that once they saw me it would be all cleared up, that it was unnecessary to waste school stationery for such a small mistake."

"Sora is a very pretty name." Kairi added.

"Shut up woman." Sora huffed.

"Ooh, does this mean I get to put make up on you?"

"I-I don't know, I mean it still kind of hurts what he did to me."

"Sora, either you're going to do it or you aren't, I can't tell you what to do, but I suggest you pick, Chase isn't going to take 'I don't know' for an answer, he might beat it out of you."

"I'm not scared of him, besides he's almost the same size as me."

"That's your waistline sweetie, he's like ninety-percent muscle and you're like zero percent anything." Kairi added helpfully.

"Oh his muscles—!"

"Sora, focus. We'll talk about those later. What do you think you should do?"

"I don't know, I guess I'll do it, but isn't my voice too deep to pass off as a girl's?"

Kairi scoffed. "No." She said simply. "I think you skipped puberty all together actually."

"Thanks Kai, then I guess I can do it, it's not like I have anything better to do right?"

"Don't you have a paper due in Mrs. Heart's class?" Mrs. Heart was the replacement for Maleficent.

"Like I said, nothing important." Sora laughed as they walked to his dorm.

There came a knock at the door. "You're being idiotic." Hayner said for the fifth time in ten minutes. "This guy is—"

"Worse than you? I don't think that's possible." Sora supplied.

"Still, I don't think I trust him anymore, I've seen him get pretty defensive with some of the girls he's been with."

"Well, that's the thing, I'm not a girl, I'm just going to be pretending to be one, and I can hold my own." Sora opened the door to find Kairi standing there with a make-up kit in one hand and another kit in the other.

"We've got some work to do." She said maliciously.

"Kairi wha—we don't have to get started tonight! He's not even here yet."

"Oh then he'll be in for a surprise." Kairi pushed passed Sora. Pence walked into the living room.

"Come on in Kai, I think this'll be a good bonding experience for us all." He cast a smile to Sora. "Sora, being gay doesn't mean you have to be camp too."

"You think I'm going to enjoy doing this, but who knows what'll happen after it's all said and done. You weren't pressed up against him, you wouldn't know."

"The only person he'd better be pressing himself up against is me." Hayner said in a huff.

"Who's being defensive now?" Sora asked.

"Sit down and put your eyeliner on, madam." Hayner answered back.

"We'll need a chair to sit in the middle of the floor here, I like dark colors for you Sora, they'll make your eyes stand out better." Kairi couldn't hear anything in the room but her own mind racing, dressing Sora in feminine garb. Pence brought a chair in from the kitchen and set it down in the middle of the room, Kairi pushed Sora into it hard and opened her other kit. There were dresses of every size and nature, wigs of the rainbow toppled out, leggings, jeans, water bras, even lace underwear.

"Kairi, his parents aren't in town for a week, is all that necessary?" The girl couldn't hear him; she opened the other kit and turned on him again.

"Mouth closed, artist at work." After that she didn't talk again till she was finished, an hour and thirty minutes later, it took so long because she would wash off whatever she did deciding on when to use it, and by the time she finished Sora could not even recognize himself in the mirror.

"Alright, now go put this on." she handed him a yellow top and a miniskirt and a pair of leggings.

"Can't I just wear my own clothes?" Sora asked as she shoved the materials in his hands.

"You asked for my help Sora, now you going to do what I say or do my make-up kit and I have to go elsewhere?" Kairi's hand was on her hip like it tended to do when she expected to get her way.

"I'll take the freaking clothes, geez." Sora said about to storm off again.

"Before you do unbutton your shirt and take it off." Sora rolled his eyes and did as he was told. "Now hold your arms out." He did, Kairi slipped a bra across his back before he knew what was going on. "This is supposed to make your bust bigger, but since you don't have one it'll look like your about an a cup, which agrees with your body type."

Sora looked down at his chest in horror and then met with Pence's laughing eyes, the boy was using his hand to cover his mouth but he was audibly laughing as well. "Hey Hayner, you know Pence would be pretty cute as a girl too, why don't you ask Kai if she'll help you out?"

Hayner looked at Pence and the boy stopped laughing. "No." He said but it was too late, the seed had been planted. "Hayner, get back," Pence said with a shaky voice. "Kairi put that blush down. Damn it Sora!" But the other boy was on his way to change into his clothes.

It took all of fifteen minutes to figure out what went where, but Sora came out mostly all buttoned with his make-up thankfully in tact. He was glad to see Pence had on a nice shade of rouge lips stick and his eyes all done up.

"Alright, now for the _piece de la resistance_," She pulled a wig cap out from her kit and placed it on top of Sora's head, mussing his unruly spikes. Then she went back and pulled out an auburn wig. She placed it on top of his head, sticking bobby pins in specific places so the wig wouldn't fall off.

"How do I look?" He asked as she straightened it out.

"It's—" But Kairi didn't get to answer there was another knock at the door.

"Who's there?" Sora asked, and walked over to answer it.

"Sora! You're in drag—" Kairi whispered too late before the door opened. Leon looked down on him; he did the once up and once down routine then turned away.

"This kid was looking for your room, miss." He said all too seriously for it to be even taken as a joke but everyone behind Sora laughed.

"Chase?" Sora asked his face made the blush on his cheeks darker.

"Wow, I hope this means yes and not that you do this on a regular occasion." Chase said with his cocky smile in place and a raised eyebrow giving him the smuggest expression.

"Yes, but there are a few guidelines, first: I'm doing this because I feel sorry for you, second: if it gets out that I did this I expect you to take the fall for it, third: you have to promise me something serious might occur between us, none of that throwing me every time someone sees us kissing."

Chase smiled even wider. "So you actually kind of like me huh?"

"You know what, I bet you weren't even listening, I'm calling the whole thing off." Sora's glare was not as lethal, not that it had ever been anything but adorable, given his current clothing situation.

"You make a cute girl; I didn't even recognize you at first." Chase said wistfully. "Spin around a bit." He said licking his lips a little. Sora spun in an unenthusiastic wobble giving the other boy a full view. "You know what? How about we get started on those guidelines right now, we can go out for some late night dinner."

Before Sora had a chance to say anything Kairi was shoving a pair of yellow slip-on shoes into his hands and pushing bracelets on his arms, which made for quite the show. "He'd love to go, wouldn't you Sora, and besides you're already so in touch with your feminine side you won't have to work hard, you kids have fun, use protection Sora's not responsible enough to be a teen mom!" She pushed them out of the door and locked it.

"Wow, your friend is um…?"

"Pushy, arrogant, scary beyond all reason?" Sora suggested.

"All of the above." Chase laughed. "So how about _Chez Moi_? They've got like six hundred different kinds of cheese."

"Cheese isn't really a romantic sort of date, Chase." Sora said flatly then patted the back of his skirt. "Damn it! This thing doesn't have any back pockets, wait here and I'll get my wallet."

"No, no," Chase grabbed Sora's arm before he could turn around then he reached around to the other shoulder and pulled him close. "I'll pay for it, pretty lady."

"I don't put out on the first date." Sora giggled.

"Well, there's always the second time around, besides you seemed willing enough when there was alcohol in your system, how about _Rendezvous_ it's a club about two miles into the city, they'll let you in without I.D."

Sora smiled. "Well, that sounds like my kind of place." The smile dropped off of his face. "How do we get to the inner city? It's not like I'm going to walk with all this on."

"You sound like a girl already, come on, I'll drive." Chase walked Sora towards the exit of the building with one arm slung over his shoulder, they passed by a girl Sora knew to be named Olette who smiled and waved at them, Sora waved daintily back and Chase nodded. When they got outside and walked to the parking lot Sora was stunned when they walked upon a midnight blue Bugatti convertible.

"It's…my god, it's so beautiful." Sora said with surprise touching the sleek sides.

"You going to stand there fondling my car or you going to get in?" Sora noticed Chase had opened his door for him. He got in and was immediately met with the white leather interior conforming to him. "You like?" Chase asked turning the engine over, the car purred to life, the sound of the engine was so low and warm, inviting almost. All Sora could do was nod with approval. "Good, alright, _Rendezvous _awaits." The hard top of the car folded into the back recess of the car and Chase put the gear in reverse, quickly shifting it to drive he floored the gas.

Inner city was about thirty minutes to an hour away so when they arrived in fifteen minutes Sora was a bit unsettled, not the scared 'I wanna go home' unsettled but the 'Dear Lord if I live long enough let me do that again' unsettled.

_The Rendezvous _was a chic all white building, the first floor had no windows and only one door Sora could see but going upwards of five floors more Sora could see big industrial sized windows and lights of every color in each one. The guard at the door, a 320 pound fullback, stood against the single black door which contrasted nicely with the building. He was dressed in complete white from head to toe; even his sun glasses were white. He took one look at Chase and a crease formed on his naked brow, causing the bridge of skin to sag over the glasses, then he looked at Sora and a small, crooked toothed smile broke out on his face. Chase wrapped an arm around Sora's waist and the two of them stepped onto the black carpet cutting in front of a line of people backed up possibly all the way to Manhattan.

Inside was just as spectacular as out, the room was still decorated in white but tapestries of black and furniture of the same color were strewn all over the place, the carpets in here also matched the upholstery. Low jazz was playing in the background and a bar sat in the middle of the room, the glass counter allowed one a good look at all the different kinds of drinks. People were scattered here and there some laying across long couches others curled up on loveseats, but the one thing that set these people apart were they all had looks of sophistication etched on their faces.

"This is called the Blanche Room," Chase explained. "It's the lowest level, of course so it is encouraged to relax here, mostly people come down here when they get tired of what it's like on the next few floors." Sora looked around.

"It's really nice here." He said stupidly and cursed himself.

"Yeah I guess," Chase decided looking at the beautifully decorated room like it was old news. "Hey, I'll get you something to drink, how's vodka with a bourbon chaser sound?"

"Sounds like you're trying to get me drunk," He smiled. "I'll take a gin and tonic, no ice."

Chase's tanned cheeks flushed a little. "If you say so, pretty lady, but the party would get started a lot faster with some good old fashioned cognac."

"Chase, I'm not that kind of girl." Sora laughed as he took a seat on one of the lounge couches, he had to remind himself twice to sit with his legs closed when he caught a dark haired man looking at him, the man smiled but Sora motioned to Chase who was coming back with his drink. The man shrugged and walked off.

"This disguise is working really well, I'll have to compliment Kairi when I get home." He took the glass out of the Chase's hand. "Thanks." He sipped it lightly letting it wash slowly down his throat.

"Come on, we'll go to The Lair next, don't worry all the bars are the same so when your done just put your drink down somewhere." Chase grabbed Sora's hand and pulled him to a spiraling pair of glass stairs in the middle of the room.

The Lair was probably the coolest room Sora had ever seen. The carpets were blood red and the walls were painted black the gigantic windows gave a nice view of the building across from them and a small view of the city, the furniture up here was more spread out, long couches pushed up against the walls were an infusion of blood and coal but were soft and plush. The lights in the room were shaped like stalactites the longest one touched the floor and a fluorescent red glowed bathed the room in a soft fuzz. There were games like Pac Man and Space Invaders all around and death metal was almost blaring.

"Wow!" Sora shouted over the music. "This place keeps getting better; do you spend a lot of time here?" Sora noticed that Chase hadn't let go of his hand but he didn't point it out.

"Yeah, my brother owns the place so he lets me crash any time I want." Chase shouted back nonchalantly, well as nonchalant as you can when you're shouting.

"Your brother is the owner?!" Sora nearly squeaked. "Who else are you related to Donald Trump?" He asked in disbelief.

"No, but I'll have to introduce you two sometime." By the sound of his voice Sora didn't know if he was kidding or not, instead he drained the last of his drink and placed it down on one of the tables.

"My favorite part about this place is that you don't have to take the stairs everywhere, the sixth floor is where my brother's apartment is, the fifth floor is another chill room with more dancing, the fourth floor is like a water-paradise, fish swimming in the floor and the walls and stuff, the third floor is just a regular club scene but that's where all the…more romantic activity takes place," he paused. "Better music too."

Dancing sounded like fun so when Chase asked Sora if he wanted to check out the third floor he shouted an agreement and the two of them walked to the stairs to continue onward.

When they got to the middle of the building it was just as Chase had said, a regular club. There was a dance area lit up by different colored lights, a bar area, waitresses with drinks and it was filled with people. The inhabitants of this room were completely different from both the first and second rooms they were just as cool as the room Sora was standing in; designer clothing and sunglasses, tans, and overly bright smiles. The music was not so loud in the sitting area but where the dancing was taking place vibration pounded the floor.

"Am I underdressed, I mean look at everyone." Sora eyed his yellow blouse.

"Sora, do you know what brand you're wearing?" Chase asked incredulously.

"…no." Sora admitted.

"That, Miss Sora, is Christian Dior, if anything these other people are underdressed." Chase looked around. "See that woman? She's got that nice purse right? Well, it's fake. So are that guy's shoes over there, and that woman's breasts."

"Wow, you could land the president's plane on those things." Sora said looking over at a busty blonde. "Wait, how do you know all this stuff?"

"My mother is a fashion designer and my father is a plastic surgeon." Chase said nonchalantly.

"You're not just rich, you're super rich." Sora decided.

"You go to a private boarding school, Sora; you shouldn't marvel at people's money you've got your own." Chase sipped a Bacardi with lime.

"That's where you're wrong; my dad is paying for me to go there, my mom thought it would be the best thing. When they got divorced she couldn't even get one cent out of him, I'm pretty sure the only reason he sent me here is so he doesn't have to pay child support." Sora didn't look up.

"Wow, I thought my dad was bad. Gee, uh, sorry?" Chase awkwardly patted Sora's back.

"You're a really bad comforter." Sora told him in a small laugh.

"Yeah well, I don't have to be in these situations too often, so I'm doing the best I can." Chase answered back. Sora smiled a small, resigned smile.

"At least you tried right, anyway we didn't come up here to talk about money, we came up here to dance." He tried to sound upbeat, but the thing was Sora was a horrible dancer. Well, he'd only tried in front of the mirror but what he saw had not been pretty.

"Yeah," Chase pause for a second, his eyes not meeting Sora's. "Did you shave your legs for this?" He asked mildly amused.

"No, I—I just can't…grow leg hair, it's weird alright," Sora said turning a dark shade of red. "Stop looking at my legs!" He said finally pushing Chase towards the lit-up dance floor. The colors of individual tiles on the floor were all different colors which changed with the beat, it was all very epileptic. Sora was having second thought about dancing; he didn't want to embarrass Chase, or better yet himself.

"Um, Chase, listen I wasn't one hundred percent truthful when I said I wanted to do this." Sora tried to say but the D.J. turned the music up even louder when he saw Chase coming; it must have been something practiced; the swell of it grew greater with each of their steps.

The boy grabbed Sora by the hips and pulled him forward pelvis to pelvis, he moved Sora's hips to the beat, jerking them from left to right in swiveling motions, grinding against himself. When he stopped Sora noticed that he had been instructing him how he was supposed to be dancing so Sora did his best to imitate Chase's movements. The other boy in turn began his own moves, putting both of his arms over Sora's shoulders and mashing their bodies together even tighter.

The song pounded on and Sora could feel a bead of sweat rolling down from his forehead, he was inexcusably turned-on and Chase wasn't helping by feeling underneath his skirt.

"First date!" Sora yelled in his ear but Chase couldn't hear him, or if he could was pretending not to be able to. The music became faster, more demanding and Sora was losing his breathe, Chase had grabbed his hips again to steady him and move him without Sora falling out on him. Sora lost himself in the pulsating, rhythmic sounds, he was being spun around, and dipped at one point, a smile from ear to ear was gracing his features.

'_It's the alcohol.' _He told himself. _'I need coffee to drink, or water, whichever I can get to.' _But he found himself incapable of escaping the music, or the body he had himself pressed against. His lips felt bruised and he couldn't even think to locate where his own hands were. There was an ethereal blue glow around everything and Sora figured it was due to his drinking, he closed his eyes but he could still see it.

"Bathroom." He moaned in Chase's ear and according to the look on the other boy's face he had mistaken Sora's true meaning. Sora was dragged through a crowd of clapping people and was soon in the brilliant fluorescent light of the men's room. He rushed to a toilet ducking Chase's lips and let himself heave up his dinner.

"You were amazing out there, I didn't know you could dance like that." Chase said as Sora emptied the contents of his stomach profusely. It was mostly liquids, when had he drunken so much?

"I-I can-can't dance." Sora managed.

"God, and I was so freaking hard out there, if you weren't puking I might have thought you wanted to come back here and—"

Sora didn't get to hear the rest, the next thing he knew the toilet seat was coming up faster than he remembered going to it. Then everything else went black.

"Sora?" Something was calling him. It was the sweetest voice he'd ever heard.

"Sora, my son, is that you?" He opened one eye expecting the pain of the hangover, but it never came. When he opened the other he found the most beautiful woman he'd ever imagine sitting beside him. Her luscious auburn hair flirted lovingly with her shoulders, her deep sienna eyes caressed him with love and warmth, and even her smile seemed to radiate sunshine. She was a thin frail woman, but beautiful nonetheless, she wore a simple frock of white but it only made her magnificence shine through.

"Are you an angel?" Sora asked in a daze.

"My son!" She said in a teary blur the next thing Sora knew she was squeezing the life out of him. "Tell me, where are you? Hurry, I cannot keep this line open long."

"Where I am?" Sora asked. "I'm with you." He said a lull was pulling him back to sleep, but this woman was so pretty, it would be a crime to close his eyes on her beauty.

"No my boy, where do you—er—live? What country? State? You speak American English so I would guess the United States, or maybe just North America, oh dear I'm rambling, Sora where is your home?" She was touching his face now, like his mother had when he was scared of that thunderstorm years ago and she told him she would always be there to protect him.

"I live on Destiny Island in Florida." He told her not being able to contain it, not that he wanted to, he would tell her anything and everything if it made him seem pure in her eyes. She smiled and his very soul warmed with it.

"I cannot believe how lovely you are," She said kissing his forehead. "You remind me so very much of your father."

Sora's smile faded off of his face instead it was replaced by a sudden anger that creased his forehead. He wanted to shout to the woman that he was nothing like his father, that he would never be like him but when he was no longer focused on her his eyes closed and he was asleep again.

"That'll give him a heart attack." Pence whined, sounding quite concerned.

"It's what he gets for drinking." Leon said in his collected voice, though Sora could detect anger, and a lot of it.

"Come on, he was being a teenager, surely you remember what it was like." Hayner interjected.

"No, I don't." Leon said simply and the next thing he knew the sting of cold and moisture took him by surprise. His eyes shot open and a howl leapt from his throat like a scared animal's. "Good evening, Sleeping Beauty." Leon's eyes were liquid hate.

Sora was drenched from head to toe in ice cold water, his face dripped with it making the mascara run down his cheeks in black tear stains, his wig still clung tightly to his head, Kairi had done a good job pinning it in.

"What was that for?" Sora nearly shouted wiping a hand across his face which smudged his make-up even more.

"Because you're a dumbass, that's why." Leon said with an stone face. "If I have to fucking explain that _drinking _under the age of twenty-one is illegal then you're a bigger dumbass than I gave you credit for, but if I have to explain that it is punishable by expulsion on the school campus then I'd like to give you a prize for being the biggest idiot of all time." The way anger was etching itself across Leon's features made everyone a bit scared, the man hardly ever showed emotion so seeing him like this was unnerving. His eyebrows arched and his mouth was set in a stern grimace, he had aged tremendously during the effort.

"Leon I-I—" But Sora couldn't explain himself, Chase had offered him a drink and he took it, he didn't remember drinking too much, maybe a glass or two, something was wrong because he could usually hold his liquors.

"You nothing, God, Sora, until I think of a better punishment you're not allowed to leave this campus for three weeks, I don't care if you've broken every bone in your body and the only way to heal yourself was to step over the property line."

"That-that's not fair!" Sora protested. It was stranger still because he didn't have a hangover, he felt perfectly fine, in the need of a good shower but fine nonetheless.

"A month!" Leon said getting within a breath of Sora's face. "Keep talking, little cousin, we can go longer, it doesn't bother me."

Sora opened his mouth to argue and then thought it better to let Leon cool down before he actually tried to negotiate anything. He sighed a defeated sigh to let Squall know he'd conceded; then looked down and back up putting on his best guilty face, it always made Leon drop the subject.

"Go wash that gunk off of your face; we'll talk about it later." Leon said sighing as well, he really did hate to have to be the voice of reason and it showed when he let the burden fall from his shoulders he looked like his own, stoic self again. Sora stood up and went to the bathroom grabbing a towel from the hall closet and closed the door behind him.

He gave himself a once over, he didn't look too bad, aside from the fact that he was still dripping wet and shivering, someone who didn't know him would think he was still a girl, a fact he wasn't sure whether he was quite content with or not. The idea was starting to sound pretty farcical in foresight, something about how much Chase's want had triggered something inside of him that had made him say yes. Sora sighed and grabbed his Noxzema out of a drawer; he used it to clean his face so he guessed it would work on make-up too.

The bathroom was spotless, considering Pence was a clean freak, so Sora found some soap and a washcloth rather easily; he turned the water to just below scalding and stepped in. The caress of the droplets against his skin made him sigh in relief, with each drop he felt himself relaxing and his mind clearing, he pushed through the clutter of it all moving aside individual thoughts and memories, making room, lessening the throb of the ache creeping into his mind. Suddenly something hit him full force, it was the memory of his dream, how very real it felt, the woman's face burned into his mind's eye. He'd seen her before, more than once he knew but he could not for the life of him remember her.

She had been so kind and so gentle, like a mother. It made Sora yearn for his mother, he thought. He thought about how much he should miss her and realized he didn't, and then he thought about how much he missed the other woman. Some dream fragment seemed more important to him than his actual mother. A wave of guilt washed down his body and then was replaced by the warm feel of the water.

Sora shook the thought from his mind like it were something he should not have tried to think about and instead washed and dried himself mechanically, not letting a single thought drift into his mind whilst he cleansed.

When he was through he could swear the scent of trees was swirling around him, but as soon as it touched his nose it was gone. Another memory, it wasn't like he had too many. He couldn't recall his past very well, whenever he tried it all came on as a blur. Specific events like when his father left were still there and when he should have drowned in the ocean once when he was younger but floated to the bottom on one gulp of air and resurfaced, bizarre or hurtful events more so than others.

Then there was that really freaky thing with Professor Maleficent, Sora could still feel her long fingers wrapped around his throat. It sent a shiver down his spine. He wrapped the towel around his waist and exited the bathroom.

"I'll be in my room!" He shouted to whoever was listening and walked to his destination.

**Author's Note: ** Ha, I hope you liked it. Review please if you liked it.


	6. Chapter 6

Piano Keys

**Author's Note:** Oh goodness, all these wonderful reviews!! It makes me remember how good it feels to be an author, I just wish I could accept the praises of this being written so quickly and all that, it isn't true, most of this I had already done, and this is my last finished chapter. But I am so thankful for everyone who has reviewed thusfar, and I'll reply to each one! It makes me feel so great!

**Chapter Six: Treble Clef **

"He seemed disoriented." Aerith said. "He didn't know me, or where he was, but for a brief moment his essence was here." Her eyes were misty, she'd obviously been crying all night.

"What did he say?" Riku asked pacing back and forth.

"He lives on Destiny Island, in Florida, in America." Aerith recounted. "He's so handsome—actually it was more of a pretty, he was very pretty. But he was so real, I touched him, I felt him, his skin was so warm, and he was so real." Aerith's eyes burst anew with tears.

"I'm going there now, Lady Aerith, I will return with your son in the next hour." Aerith smiled and stood from her seat. She grabbed Riku by the hand and kissed his cheek.

"Go with my blessing, my son." She turned from him and Riku descended from Kingdom Hearts. "Cloud, I know you are there too, child, please step forward." Cloud walked around into his mother's room. "You too Roxas." She said watching for her other child. Roxas enter behind Cloud somberly, as he had been ever since Sora's disappearance. Axel ran in behind him and bowed.

"Mother, I'm going to get Sora, nothing against Riku, but it is not his place." Cloud said pleadingly. His oceanic eyes were searching Aerith's for some kind of command to go.

"Cloud, I cannot stop you, and I do not want to, the only reason I do not go myself is because of Ursula, she is not the kind of person I can trust, so I must watch over our realm."

"I'm going too! I was closer to Sora than anyone, he isn't just my brother he was my best friend, I was there when we lost him and I'll be there when we find him." Aerith sat back in her chair and sighed.

"Then go too with my blessing my son." She said looking exhausted, they knew she was holding her tongue, that she didn't want them to go, Riku had gone and that was more than enough, but they were strong-willed and she could do nothing about it.

"We will return," Roxas shifted his view to Axel. "Stay with my mother, I don't trust Ursula either and she may need your help, enlist the others to help protect her." Axel looked as if he wanted to protest, but he reined it in.

"If you even think about another guy while you're down there I'll set the world on fire, got that?"

"You already set my world on fire, stupid." Roxas said and kissed him hard on the lips. His mouth was instantly inflamed in a familiar comfortable heat that travelled down his spine and back up.

"A little something to remember me by." Axel said and kissed Roxas again intensifying the heat of his kiss till the boy couldn't stand. Axel caught him and stood him back up right. Roxas smiled and wrapped him arms around him when Cloud cleared his throat.

"I'm leaving, if you're coming then come on." Cloud said then in the blink of an eye he was gone, Roxas followed behind.

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"Kairi, they're going to be here soon hurry!" Sora was dressed in his female attire but his make-up was only halfway finished. Kairi decided that it had been for the better to save it for last considering that the boy had messed it up once trying to put his clothes on. Sora didn't like the feeling of the dress he was wearing, but that was because he had never worn a dress before. It was a brown and white dress sundress with floral patterns, a bubble hem cinched at the waist by a white belt and sleeves that covered the top of Sora's shoulder.

"Well if you'd stay still I could get this eyeliner—there finally, go put the wig on, Mr. Fidgety." She began applying the eyeliner to her own eyes watching him go.

"Excuse me for being nervous, it isn't everyday that I have to dress up like a girl to impress someone's parents." Sora shouted back into the room.

"You know I could pierce your ears for you, I've got these earrings that are perfect for that dress. Then maybe we could go out and get a manicure, I've been thinking I need more girlfriends, but why do that when the guys I hang out with work just as well?"

Sora walked back into the room glaring at her in all his feminine glory. It was amazing what a little make-up, an inexpensive dress, and some white pumps could do.

"Wow, you look amazing." Kairi shook her head. "Are you going to dress like that for graduation in a few months?"

"Shut up Kairi." The door bell rang and both of them walked to it, Sora having to force himself not to look eager. The boy in drag opened the door and put on his brightest smile.

"She's too skinny." A tight faced woman smoking a cigarette held by a black cylinder said putting her rouge lips to the tip of it and inhaling the toxic.

"Dear you're entirely too harsh, she's a vision." A man said, no, a giant said. He was at least six foot seven and his muscles rippled as he chuckled. The woman that must have been Mrs. Günter chortled.

"A vision of anorexia maybe." The woman couldn't have been much bigger than Kairi's pinky finger, but here she was talking about Sora's appearance. "How is she supposed to birth our baby boy sons with hips those narrow?"

"Mom, dad, go in please!" Chase chimed from behind both of them.

"Oh! Yes please come in Mr. and Mrs. Günter, how rude of me." Sora said between clenched teeth. This wasn't going to work, either he would blow his cover, or they'd find out some how. Kairi brought out some snacks and set them down on the living room table. She would be playing his roommate since it would be completely unacceptable to have a male roommate, so Pence and Hayner were out on a date and would be crashing at Kairi's dorm, where she was staying by herself since her roommate was nonexistent. Damn rich kids.

"Dear why not date this one? Her body is big enough for lots of grandchildren." Mrs. Günter said. Kairi's jaw clenched and then her face became almost sickly sweet.

"I'll be going now, so many things to do at a private school, have a _wonderful _evening." With that she stormed out.

"What a nice little girl," Chase's mother said.

"My son knows how to catch the best of the bunch, isn't that right boy?" His father asked. "Girlie," He addressed Sora.

"It's Sora actually." The aforementioned corrected.

"Sorry, sweetie, okay, Sora, how does a pretty little thing like you end up with my boy?" He asked patting his son on the back proudly.

"Well we met at a party." Sora began when Chase's eyes grew a fraction larger.

"A party?" His mother asked, astounded.

"A study group really, but there were snacks and juice there and that is more than enough partying for me." Sora said backtracking. Chase's mother looked pleased with the response.

"Good, you know the letter the school wrote misled Archibald and myself into thinking you were some good for nothing tramp, but I see you are more wholesome than we gave you credit for."

"Thank you Mrs. Günter," Was Sora's reply, his jaw hurt from smiling so much.

"Oh please, call me Celia." She said smiling, a feat her face didn't look too used to. "Anywho dear, this is a nice little hovel you have here, so urban chic." In other words she thought it was a dump.

"Cheese and cracker?" Sora asked motioning to the snacks, they didn't have much else considering that it was still Sora's turn to do the grocery shopping.

"No thank you dear, I thought we would go to _Chez Moi_, they have over six hundred different kinds of cheeses,you know?" Chase's father, Archibald, said proudly. Wow, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"Oh Chase was planning on taking me there for our first date." Sora said with a smile.

"First date? Our boy says he took you to Vincent's club the other day." Archibald said. The smile faded off of Sora's face.

"Oh, well I don't really count that as a date, there wasn't much atmosphere for talking, what with all the music and things, besides I wasn't really comfortable at the club, I'd never been to one before." Suddenly Mrs. Günter's eyes lit up, she was liking Sora more and more.

"Well come along girlie, food's not going to wait on us." Sora smiled and followed behind them as they exited his "hovel".

There was one problem with _Chez Moi _that Sora hadn't counted on. The menu was in French. When he mention to Chase that he didn't speak French the young man kindly ordered for him.

"So how old are you anyway dear?" Celia asked.

"Seventeen, my birthday is in a few weeks." Sora replied.

"Oh! How lovely, you simply must come with us on our family cruise, we'll be travelling the world on our on private ship."

"No, no that is much too much, Mrs. Günter, I couldn't." Sora said jumping a bit as Chase's hand landed on his exposed thigh. Sora did very much not like his choice of clothing now as the other boy made his way up his leg, unbeknownst to Chase's parents.

"Don't be silly, that ship is built for a fleet of people, it just seems lonely without another person. I insist."

"Well if you insist." Sora said shakily, Chase was no longer feeling on his thigh that was for sure.

"Since that's taken care of I'm going to the powder room, excuse me." With that Celia got up and left the table.

"Now Chase Daniel, I know what you're doing to that girl," Archibald, who was a gray headed man with a large white mustache and a cowboy hat to match his clothing, said. "And it ain't right, not at the table now boy. Your mother may not see how flustered Miss Sora is, but I do, leave the pretty thing alone before she wilts from the vapors." Where did they get this guy? Wilts from the vapors?

"Ha! Just kiddin' you son, if she ain't protesting it ain't molestin', am I right Miss Sora?" He asked casting his gaze at Miss Sora who in turn giggled uncomfortably.

"It does make it awfully difficult to say no to your mother, Chase." Sora said pinning the other boy's hand down with his own.

"That was the point." Chase said with a smile. He seemed quite content with holding Sora's hand, even though it twitched a bit when it hovered over Sora's thigh. The aforementioned boy put both their hands on the table and smiled even harder.

A waiter brought their food, Sora had only ordered a salad, he lost his appetite for anything else and frankly wasn't a fan of French cuisine. Archibald ordered a few rounds of food, while Chase ordered steak and potatoes.

"I'm back." Celia said taking her seat at the table. Her eyebrow rose when she looked down at Sora and Chase's intertwined hands. "Sora, dear, you really are going to have to come visit us more often, you are a delight, and my husband is right, quite the beauty. I can see why my youngest seems so infatuated with you."

"Thank you Celia, it means a lot to me." Sora gritted through his smile.

"So please tell me more about yourself dear, you've barely said anything about your home life. Who are you parents? Anyone I might know?" Celia probed.

"Maybe not, my mom is an amateur artist, she's had a few showings in a gallery in Soho, but I don't think you would know her she isn't very well known."

"Her name though dear, I buy from a private collector maybe I have a few of her pieces." Celia said taking a bite of her salad.

"Tia-Marie Vertoli." Sora said a bit tense.

"Oh? Her name sounds familiar, I'll have to rifle through some of my things to check for the signature." She said happily. "How wonderful, an artist." Celia said smiling. "Oh I love art, Archibald is a poet you know? Well, he was when we first met." She smiled at her husband proudly. The man looked like anything but a poet. "And your father?" She asked.

"Mom, maybe you shouldn't—" Chase tried but Sora shook his head, the curls of his wig following his movement.

"No, it's fine Chase. My father is Leon Giovaldi, that's about the only thing I know about him, he left when I was very young." Sora's face was made of stone, not betraying him any emotion.

"I'm so sorry; perhaps I was asking the wrong questions." Celia said.

"How could you have known?" He asked. "But I hate to put a damper on this lovely evening. Tell me a few embarrassing stories about Chase here." Sora smiled, but it was quite fake. The rest of the evening followed with the stories at Chase's expense, the boy got red very often, Celia took Sora's measurements when they left the restaurant and promised him that she would send him some wonderful designs before they hit the collections.

They drove Sora back to his room, where Chase said he would be staying for another hour or so. Celia was against it at first, but Archibald coaxed her into it and soon they departed into the night.

"Did you have a good time?" The other boy asked Sora.

"Oh very much so, I love the fact that you hated clothes all the way up till you were eight, hence the fact that you never wore them unless your mom forced you to." Sora smiled when Chase blushed again.

"I was a kid," He said, trying to excuse himself.

"Come on in, please Pence is going to be gone tonight and I don't want to sleep here by myself." Sora grabbed his hand again and pulled the boy inside.

"I thought Kairi was going to be staying here."

"She said she doesn't care how into guys I am, she'd rather room with Naminé than sleep here." Sora chuckled.

"Hm, you sure you didn't just bring me here to do more than sleep with you?" Chase pulled Sora close and closed the door behind him, he kissed the boy's lips gently.

"Actually I'm quite sure, today made me so tired, I thought maybe we could just sleep together, instead of you know _sleeping _together." It must have been hard for anyone to say no to those brilliant blue eyes, and such an endearing smile.

"Alright, where's your room?" Chase asked and let himself be led by Sora. "You do look like a girl with just that little bit of make-up on, you know that right?" Chase asked smiling.

"If one more person tells me that." Sora said laughing. "Here, this is my room," They entered into Sora's blue and white bedroom, it was clean for the most part, a pile of clothing lay in a corner but other than that it was manageable. "I'm going to shower; I'll be out in a few." Sora grabbed a towel from the pile of clothes and began to walk out of the room.

"Care if I join you?" Chase called after him.

"Please, be my guest." The brunet smiled even wider and led Chase to the bathroom.

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To themselves they felt like their disguises were good, but considering they hadn't been to Earth since the late seventies they weren't the best. Even with the unhip clothing girls, and some boys, were all but throwing themselves at the gods.

"Where is your associate?" Cloud asked Riku.

"I told you many times before, she is not my associate, I merely reached out to a human who had a love of their planet, she is on her way." He assured.

"I hope so, I don't think I like these human girls touching me." Roxas said uncomfortably.

"They're just women, Roxie, you'll be fine." Cloud said smiling to a pretty girl that walked by, she almost tripped when she caught his eyes and stumbled away.

"Sire?" A petite female voice said in the air, Riku spun around and was met by safe brown eyes. The girl was a beauty to look at, and could probably make any man swoon for her, but she was only human.

"Ms. Belle." Riku said smiling at her.

"My lord, it is an honor." Belle curtsied.

"Please, it is alright. Listen, Belle I haven't got much time, there is someone here I'm looking for, someone I love and hold very dear to myself." Riku explained.

"I will do what I can to help, sire, but if I may ask, why not seek him out as you did me? Call to his inner self? I could feel you all around me, every part of myself screamed to find you."

"Because he cannot be summoned like some human!" Roxas almost yelled jumping up, his eyes flashed a neon black. Belle jumped into the air and began sobbing, she fell to her knees.

"I am so sorry, please forgive me Death God!" She wept.

"Roxas, calm yourself, this is a delicate situation, she is barely conscious as is, don't rattle her so." Riku placed a hand on the woman's face and calm spread throughout her entire system.

"Do you have any idea how I would be able to find a boy? One who looked human on the outside but was so much more?" Riku asked, kneeling down beside her.

"Of what age sire?" She asked, her eyes still red and very much crying.

"I would say he was about seventeen in your terms."

"Then you may find him at one of the schools, teenagers are required by law to attend them, though there is the off chance that he is home schooled." Roxas and Cloud looked at each other wearily.

"Riku, it could take a millennium to search all the schools on this island, or even the mainland." Cloud said.

"You're right, but we have to if we want to bring him back."

"I have an idea!" Roxas yelled again. "You, human! Which school is closest to the ocean?"

"Why, the one I work at, sire." Belle said not meeting his glowing eyes.

"Roxas, calm yourself!" Cloud said grabbing him by the shoulder. "We don't know what your influence here could do." It was true, the grass Roxas was standing on was becoming a sickly yellow, and slowly a dead brown.

"Fine." Roxas said and he began hovering off the ground by half an inch. "I won't touch anything living while here." He said casting a glance at Belle.

"Take us to that school." Cloud instructed.

"Sires, may I suggest a change of clothing first?" Belle asked, holding back a giggle.

"And just what is wrong with these duds?" Riku asked looking down at his clothes.

"Well, and no disrespect my liege, but no one has seen those clothes since my mother was my age." Belle giggled.

"Hm, something more appropriate then." With a snap of his fingers he was in more toned down clothing. A regular form fitting black tee-shirt and blue jeans, the other two followed behind him, both becoming just as plain and toned down as possible, not that it did them any good, you could change the clothes on the god, but it was still a god.

"Alright, let's get going." Roxas said walking across the air.

The structure that most humans would have called immaculate and maybe even one of the finest school buildings in America seemed meager and a bit amateurish on the architect's part to the three of them.

"He goes to such a run down school?" Riku asked a little perturbed.

"This is a shack compared to his one room at the palace." Cloud concurred.

"It's…quaint." Roxas commented.

"I am sorry if it displeases you my lords, if I could I would rebuild it for you brick by brick till it met your standards." Belle said emphatically, indeed very sorry the building was not to their liking.

"No, no, this will do, just take us inside, I think I can feel his aura around here." Riku assured.

"It has been so long, are you sure it's his?" Roxas asked, grabbing Riku by his arm.

"Roxas, please." The God of Nature removed Roxas' hand. They had agreed a while ago that Roxas wouldn't touch Riku directly, it was too painful for Riku to look at his lover's twin and to see those eyes that didn't belong to the one he needed so badly.

"Sorry." Roxas said looking away, holding back the ever present tears in his eyes.

"We're going to find him, you two pull yourselves together." Cloud said focusing his eyes on Belle. "Is there a student named Sora that goes here?" He asked looking hopeful.

"Well, yes and no. There are over two thousand students that go here, several of them are Soras, do you have a last name? Or maybe a description?"

"He's my twin." Roxas said a bit miffed. "Someone who looks very much like me, his hair is a little more spiked out, and his face is a little chubbier." A ghost of a smile passed over his face. Belle's eyes grew a fraction larger.

"I thought you looked familiar, sire. I have a student by the name of Sora Vertoli; he could be a dead ringer for your brother." She started to walk off towards the dorms. "It is a bit late, but he could still possibly be up at this moment." The men who were more than men followed closely behind her, if anyone did more than glance at them they would have noticed that the 'men' were nothing but blurs two of them barely touching the ground and one gliding over it.

They arrived at a door and Belle knocked furiously.

"Who is it?" A very familiar voice called from the other side. There wasn't time to act, no one could stop him. Roxas barreled through the front door, phasing himself through it completely. Riku looked hurriedly at Cloud and the both of them followed behind him. They found themselves staring at a very perplexed looking Sora, who was half naked and sitting across a young man's lap.

"Sora?" They all called out at the same time. The aforementioned dug himself deeper into his cohort, who wrapped his arms around him tightly.

"Who the hell are you?" The boy asked, holding Sora protectively.

"Watch yourself boy." Cloud said holding his hand up as if to quiet Chase.

"Let him go." Riku said balling his hand into a fist, somewhere in the Amazon a hundred year old redwood tree splintered to several million pieces.

"Answer the fucking question! Who the hell are you just walking in here like that?" The boy was also hardly dressed, he and Sora only wore a very thin pair of shorts to cover their nether regions.

"I suggest you hold you tongue, human." Roxas said landing on the ground. "Lest I rip it from your skull."

"Sora, go to your room, I'll handle these guys." Chase said standing and distancing Sora from the men.

"I'm not leaving you Chase." Sora said loudly, grabbing Chase's hand.

"Sora!" Riku shouted moving so quickly that neither Sora nor Chase had time to blink, he ripped their hands apart and pulled Sora away from the boy. "What are you doing, Sora? Touching this human in this way. You are mine!" He shouted, the room became filled with black roses, there were so many that the vines overlapped each other trying to come forward, they grew over everything, crushing a table, breaking plates, cracking the door. "I missed you so much, I worried myself for almost a half a century and this is how you show me your love?" The black roses exploded, their petal falling slowly through the air.

"What are you talking about?" Sora yelled. "I don't know you! Someone please help up!" He screamed. The vines grew over Chase's legs and torso, he couldn't move a muscle.

"You don't know us?" Roxas asked, placing a hand on Sora's cheek, the spot turned black and began to spread. Roxas withdrew his hand quickly and the black spot began to recede. "He's…human." The divine twin said, every nerve in his body shaking.

"No he's not!" Riku shouted. "I can feel him in this shell!"

"Put me down!" Sora pleaded crying. "It hurts so bad…" In Riku's careless haste the vines of the black roots had also began twisting around Sora, they were so tight you could see his veins pumping harder. Riku dropped him back on the couch and in a blink all the plants were gone, Chase fell back on the couch as well, unconscious.

"This doesn't make any sense." Roxas said staring down at his twin who he hadn't seen in thirty years. "He can't be human." The sound of something heavy hitting the floor and breaking pervaded the air. All three of them looked up to see a brown haired man standing there with a long gun in his hand. He was quite handsome, and had a scar across his face.

"What the hell is going on here?" He shouted angrily from where the door had been busted down. He held his gun up, but the weapon was strange, it had a sword point.

"A Lockhart?" Cloud asked turning around.

"Who the hell are you? Why do you know that name?" Leon asked stepping into the room. "Get away from those students! Do it or I'll fire."

"You'll find your weapons are highly ineffective with people like us." Riku said chidingly, as if the man should have known his efforts were futile.

"That was a warning, now I'm going to say it again: get away from those students or I will shoot you. All of you."

"Don't, it won't do _you _any good." Riku said grabbing the bridge of his nose, tired of dealing with these fragile beings.

"I don't want to do this." He said pointing the gun at Riku.

"Let him. Why don't you hold my hand?" Roxas asked smiling sweetly.

"Go to hell." Leon said to the boy. "Now get away from those boys."

"We will do no such thing." Cloud said stepping up to the man, he grabbed the Gunblade by its tip and pointed it to his chest. "If you think it will help you cope with this situation then shoot me, Lockhart."

"Why do you keep calling me by that?" Leon asked, hand on the trigger.

"It was your mother's name was it not?" Cloud asked, refusing the urge to run a hand through Leon's hair, how he favored that woman so much.

"My name is Leonhart now." Leon informed him. "You seem like you're the calmest person here, or maybe the craziest I don't know, but tell me what you're doing. I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Neither would she." Cloud said with a smile. "Tifa." The name rolled off of his lips smoothly, intruding the tense air of the room so intricately that it all broke. "Lower your weapon Leonhart, we would not be harmed by them anyway." Cloud said help Leon lower his gun. "Now listen calmly, we are here to take Sora back home, where he belongs."

"What are you talking about?" Sora yelled.

"Keep quiet." Leon said quickly.

"Sora is the God of Love, and he needs to come reclaim his throne in Kingdom Hearts." Cloud explained. "Our mother misses him so much and so do we all, he was the light of our family, the jewel. We have been without him for so long."

"You're all crazy." Leon stated.

"He fell to Earth thirty years ago," Cloud continued "and the only possible explanation I have for this situation is that his body took to it's habitat and slowly converted him into this form we see before us." Sora's expression was a cross between pure disbelief and fear.

"You're full of shit." He spat at Cloud, whose heart broke at hearing the words come from his brother's mouth.

"Your time here has changed you, brother, but I can't say I didn't expect something similar to this might have happened."

"Sora, look at me, you have to remember." Riku said grabbing Sora's face. The curve was so familiar it hurt especially when the look of fear grew on the very visage he was holding.

"Show him we're telling the truth." Roxas said to Riku. "His favorite flower, it used to be a lily right?"

"Yeah, hold on." Riku extended his hand and a seed appeared, in almost time elapsed speed the flower bloomed into full growth before Sora and Leon's eyes. "Do you believe yet?" He asked the shocked boy.

"I believe you're messed up in the head. So you can do magic, my friend Pence can levitate off the ground, it's all a trick." Sora shook his head. "God, you people need to just go away."

"Give me the flower." Roxas said to Riku.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Riku answered hastily, it might have overload Sora to see his brother kill something with a simple touch.

"Give it to me Riku, now." Without another word Riku handed him the flower; at Roxas' slightest touch the lily cringed and burned instantly, going from it's vibrant full bloom to half past dead in a matter of milliseconds. "I'm the Death God, Sora, I'm your twin brother, surely you can see it." He tried to smile like he knew Sora to, but he had forgotten how to do it. "Riku is the God of Nature, and your would-be lover."

"Look." Sora said now scared beyond human reason. "I believe that you are all very good actors and magicians, and that you either know your lines really well, or you seriously need mental help, but this is just too weird for me." He shook his head. "I'm seeing Chase, and believe me I wouldn't be opposed to being your boyfriend if you weren't crazy." He said half joking.

"Sora—" Riku tried.

"And how the hell do you all know my name? Have you been stalking me?"

"Do you really not remember?" Roxas asked, his voice breaking as the tears finally rolled down his face, they dripped from his face and ate through the ground.

"I-I mean we do look a lot alike, it's actually kind of scary how much we look alike, but then again this whole evening has been scary." Sora tried, he stood up and awkwardly patted Roxas on the back.

"This isn't working." Cloud said finally breaking the mutual staring contest he and Leon had been having.

"I see that." Riku agreed miserablely. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I have one; it should buy us the time we need to do something about his humanity. We also need to inform Mother that her son is suffering a bad case of amnesia." Cloud sighed. "But at least we found him."

"Sora please." Roxas had pulled Sora into a full embrace, making sure not to touch his skin. "Try to remember." The acid tears falling from his eyes were extremely hot, and Sora had to wipe the boy's face with his sleeve so that they didn't burn him completely.

"Roxas—that's your name right?" Roxas nodded. "I still don't know what you guys are talking about, but I see that you really do believe what you're saying. You're trying to tell me that my whole life has been some sort of lie." Sora held Roxas by the shoulders. "You don't know how badly I wish that statement were true."

"Riku, Roxas, we'll be leaving now," Cloud announced. One pair of sky blue and one pair of aquamarine eyes glared at the blond hatefully. "Don't worry guys, we'll be back, and when we do come back no one will remember this little moment." He turned his head to the left. "Isn't that right, Marluxia?"

At first only the spikes of pink hair were visible, then a pair of pink eyes, and a lovely face framed by the hair came into existence, but it happened so slowly that it was as if time was a frame by frame of a movie were happening. The pink haired man was holding a green scythe with an equally pink crescent blade, a smile very prominent on his luscious lips.

"At your service." Marluxia, the God of Time and Reality said bowing regally.

"When did he get here?" Sora asked jumping ten feet in the air at the sight of him.

"I'm always present, Sora, here, there, nowhere, and everywhere, where time flows and doesn't, where reality begins and fantasy coalesces. The question is: why are _you_ here?" Marluxia answered in his usual encryptions.

"I—."

"Rhetorical questions, young one, you _aren't _here, or are you?" Marluxia turned his attention to Cloud. "What can I do for you, sire?"

"Please don't call me that, Marluxia, it always makes me feel so unworthy of the title when someone like yourself says it." Cloud said meeting the man's eyes.

"Ah, as humble as always." Marluxia was one of the only God's who was allowed on Earth without his throne being in danger because while he was on Earth he was still in Kingdom Hearts. Nothing could really explain his uniqueness other than the fact that he was the definition of the word. No other God, save Jenova, ever recognized him, even if they knew he was there. Cloud's doing so was unprecedented.

"Could you make it so this event never happened in their minds, the humans?" Cloud asked.

"It is already done." Marluxia said confidently. "Now your other request?"

"Make Sora remember who he is." Cloud said looking at his little brother. Time around them had been stopped and only the Gods could move, Sora was conscious but his body was frozen.

"I am merely a being who exists in and out of time and space, my liege, my reign is over the realities of the worlds, I could make Sora believe he was a god, but it would do you no good, and I could make _you_ believe Sora knew his true place. It doesn't make it anymore true or false." Marluxia leaned on the staff of his scythe. "Rephrase your request."

Cloud thought about it for a long moment, the minutes that didn't tick by were agonizing for everyone but Marluxia who was as still as the humans in the school unknowingly were.

"Can you make Sora think we are friends of his? Just to buy us time."

"And make this school think we attend?" Riku added.

"…" Roxas sobbed into Sora's shoulder.

"It's already done." Marluxia said dramatically snapping his fingers. "Please do not hesitate to talk, it does get so lonely existing, but never truly being real." The Time God said as he painstakingly dispersed slowly back into the thin air. Time hadn't started back yet, they had enough of it to fix what had been broken for Cloud to place Sora, much to Riku's disdain, back on Chase's lap. Riku waved a hand over the door and it rehinged itself in the frame.

"Jenova was right." Riku said looking at Sora slowly becoming animate again. "This is a hard choice to make." But something in his mind nagged him that this wasn't the choice Jenova had been talking about, he shrugged it off.

"Come on, we'll make this guy look like he's knocking on the door." Roxas said about to grab Leon by the arm.

"Roxas!" Cloud grasped the boy's wrist. "We'll take care of it, alright?"

"I can control my powers, Cloud." Roxas said darkly glaring at his eldest brother.

"That is a chance I cannot take." Cloud said grabbing Leon and placing him in front of the repaired door, closing it, and he set the man on his feet reverently.

"What's so special about him?" Roxas asked.

"He is the one Jenova foretold of." Cloud said stroking his face. "The one for me, '_the child of the one I loved like no other would be an even greater love in my heart_' as I remember it." Cloud recounted.

"But he's human Cloud." Roxas said. "He will age and decay like all the rest."

"Not if I canonize him." Cloud said stroking the waking man's face, Marluxia's spell was about to expire.

"This is nonsense."

"Say what you will little brother, but our mission is almost over, and I will have him for myself." Cloud gave Leon on last look.

"Your room key." Belle said handing Cloud something; she had been forced to wait outside since she couldn't phase in like they had.

"Thank you." Cloud said looking down at the small silver key, it began to tug him down the hall, he told the others to follow him as it led. Not three rooms down they were standing where no room had been before, it was irregularly numbered and everything offsetting the balance of rooms, but the key fit the door. Cloud opened it.

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Leon found himself knocking on Sora's door.

"Who is it?" Sora asked, snuggling closer to Chase who was happily flipping through channels.

"It's, uh, it's me." Leon said confused, why was he carrying his Gunblade?

"Coming." Sora hopped up and opened the door. "What's up, cuz?" He asked smiling.

"I don't know, I was playing a Gears of War and now I'm here." Leon felt a creeping headache.

"You want me to ground you for drinking?" Sora laughed.

"Speaking of that, I heard you left school grounds today." The man looked Sora dead in the eyes, raising his brow.

"Who-who told you that?" Sora asked, suddenly a bit more nervous. He felt someone's arm wrap around his naked stomach and leaned back into the warmth.

"His parents actually." Leon said switching his view to Chase. "They told me I have a wonderful little cousin, his dad said something about how "she was a prime catch for his son" this wouldn't have anything to do with that crossdressing of yours would it?"

"Well—" Sora tried.

"I made him do it, Mr. Leonhart, he told me that he wasn't allowed to leave the school grounds but I begged him cause he can't say no to me." Chase said apologetically.

"I can't very well ground you can I?" Leon asked shaking his head he turned away from the two heading back to his room. "Oh, Sora, I guess I'll shorten your sentence to a week, since I know who that club belongs to now, Mr. Günter you've got detention in my class for the next month to replace Sora's punishment." Leon smirked.

"Wha…but—but…sir?" It was too late, Leon had already taken the turn off to the teacher's quarters. "Gah, I've never had detention before." Chase said looking down at Sora and laying his head in his hair.

"Don't worry about it, Leon's a bit softie, he won't even make a note of it on the detention log in the office, so long as you show up, I'll stay after with you."

"That makes it a bit more bearable," Chase kissed the top of Sora's hair and pulled him back to the couch, closing the door behind him. "Now, I believe we have some unfinished business that could be tended to."

Sora chuckled. "Oh? And how do you want to go about this business?" He asked, grinding himself into the other boy.

"I think you'll understand after this." Chase smiled, pulling down the elastic band around the brunet's waist.

**Author's Notes:** That sadly ends the last pre-writen chapter, so please enjoy what I've done so far, the seventh chapter is almost done, so be patient, as for the continuation, I'm not sure how fast I can get the following chapter up, but if it isn't quickly you can look forward to updates the same way I've done so far, I promise that.


	7. Chapter 7

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes:** Okay, so I think you guys are really going to enjoy this one. Please read and review, and since I'm finally moved in to my dorm I should be able to update more frequently, not much more I still have to study, but yeah. And I made this about four pages longer to make up for the wait. :-))

**Chapter Seven: Melodies of Discord**

Hades played with the smoky tendrils of his robe as they effervesced around him. "And you're sure he can't be made a god again?" He asked as the light blue flame of his hair yearned to burn a bright red, but he couldn't show his nervousness.

"Well," Oogie Boogie, the God of Fear, began. "I'm sure he won't be able to find the way to become a god again, what can I say? I love loopholes."

"You idiot! All of Aerith's kids are down there you don't think with their amount of wit they wouldn't be able to figure it out?" Hades flamed; no literally, the fire of his hair had spread to his entire being.

"They called on Marluxia." Jafar, the God of Thieves and ill acquired wealth, said in his nonchalant drawl. "That buffoon would help anyone who uttered his name."

"I believe." Redd, a minor love deity, began looking in her heart shaped mirror. "That once I become the Goddess of Love anyone who loves anyone but me will suffer ten thousand deaths." Redd had once been a great queen, but her evil ways quickly had her put to death, it was that same evil that preserved her spirit and canonized her as the Goddess of Adultery. She was an ugly tuff of a woman, black hair curled inward so tightly that there was not a sign of it not being a dome atop her head, her plump face matched her body, and she always wore black and red, her royal colors, dotted with hearts.

Maleficent strode through the room confidently, head held back and shoulders upright, her signature staff tapped against the floor with her every other step.

"What is the verdict?" Jafar asked leaning forward.

"_Lady _Ursula cannot be summoned or called upon at any moments notice, she has seas to look over, fish to kill, Merpeople to terrorize. So no, she will not be joining us this evening." Maleficent said with a smile on her face.

"Then why are you so smug?" Redd asked, not looking up from her mirror.

"Because that overgrown blowfish will get what she deserves, Hades, have Pain and Panic round up some minions and harass the brats down below. The big three aren't here to defend their mother and her reign, so we will _take _the crown by force while they are away."

"Are you daft, woman?!" Hook, another minor water god, nearly shouted. "Aerith may be timid, but she be not weak. Jenova is on her side, a march on either of them is suicide." His handlebar mustache seemed to stand on ends.

"You're right," Maleficent laughed. "It's all just a suicide mission, that's why I'm putting my own neck on the line." She turned around, her midnight robes billowing out all around her, her green skin rippled and hexagonal designs began to pimple up, her eyes became slits. "You are a sniveling little man who wouldn't know tactical strategy when it bit you in the face." She spat. "We are not marching as of yet, Hook, we much wait till we have more forces, there are still quite a few obstacles to get past first, like Jenova, and a few others as well."

"Look, Mal, babe, I gotta level with you, it's been thirty years, almost half a century, and we're still in the same Zeus forsaken place we were in last time." Hades commented.

"Simple minded fools; do you not see what I present to you? They are practically handing us the power we so rightfully deserve! Can you not taste the luxuries that will be bestowed upon us? Is it not so close that it feels tangible?" Maleficent motioned with her hand a castle that looked very much like Jenova's appeared on the table in the small dark room. "She will of course see us coming, and Marluxia's spell around her will not make it easy, but Jenova is no more powerful than Ursula."

"She's the Goddess of Imagination and Creativity." Redd said laughing.

"My point exactly, she is a small god in a big god's role, and she will be subject to my supreme will once we bring her down to her rightful size." Maleficent waved her hand and the castle transformed into Aerith's. "This one on the other hand, the Goddess of Purity."

"What can she do to us that would be worse than Jenova?" Hook asked.

"So much, the desire to conquer anything in your path, she could quench that with only a look, make us forget our goal with one warm smile, stop an army with a mere bat of the eyelashes. Purity is a powerful device."

"That is where I come in handy." Kadaj said walking into the room. "What better to combat the pure than with chaos?"

"Propose that we could stand up to these tyrants." Redd said cleaning her nails. "How can we be sure you don't take all the power yourself?"

"You can't, isn't that lovely?" Kadaj smiled.

"Oh quite the contrary actually." Redd said shaking her fat little head.

"This bickering is counterproductive." Maleficent said standing next to Kadaj. "This will be a hierarchy, I cannot say it won't be, but everyone will be treated fairly, since Kadaj has sworn his allegiance to me, he is not after power, merely revenge."

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Axel ran as fast as he could, his feet were catching fire as they met with the friction of the air. He ran past all the servants and all the gods, past important and unimportant persons alike, not stopping to greet any of them.

"Lady Aerith!" He shouted as he entered her throne room, nearly falling to his knees from exhaustion. "Lady Aerith!" He wheezed again.

"Please, catch your breath my son." Aerith said stepping down from her intricate throne and walking to Axel, she bent down beside him and placed a hand over his forehead; coolness washed over him, and soothed every pour of him. "Speak, what has you in such a tizzy?"

"They're planning to attack you, my lady!" Axel said taking deep breathes.

"Who is planning to attack?" Aerith asked, standing up. She adjusted the seldom worn crown on her head, the only reason she was wearing it today was because Lady Jenova was coming for their tri-century treaty negotiations, a faux negotiation that Jenova and The Bringer started a long time ago.

"Maleficent and a band of evil deities, she has even recruited Kadaj."

"That is troubling news, are you sure?" Aerith looked alarmed.

"Yes my lady, I was following Ursula as you told me to when her and Maleficent began a discussion on overthrowing you, when Ursula refused to go with Maleficent I followed after her, she entered a dimension closed off from detection, very much like how you called that meeting between those other minors, Lady Aerith she plans on attacking after she's acquired an army, because she knows how short handed you are."

"Troubling indeed." Aerith said again.

"They're afraid of you." Axel said.

"Because I can change the evil intent in their heart." Aerith stood as the door to her throne room opened, for a moment the mighty Queen was shrouded in a white light that swirled around Axel, who went completely lax, he could feel the light caressing him, and whispering to him, holding him like his father had when he had been human, comforting him, but it was over just as quickly as it had started. Axel felt calm; he felt like a child, Aerith's hand touched his shoulder grasping it.

"Mother?" Axel asked.

"Oh I'm so sorry Axel," Aerith said helping him up. "That will wear off momentarily, I promise."

"Flexing your power, Queen Aerith?" She was gorgeous, no, not gorgeous, that word couldn't touch her beauty, her femininity. She was beauty incarnate, from her veil of silvery blue hair, to her silky skin. She was wrapped in a simple white robe, but it only accentuated every curve of her, and her bare feet seemed to purify the very floor she walked on.

"My Lady Jenova." Aerith said curtseying.

"My Queen." Jenova said curtseying herself. Walking behind her was her son, the divinely handsome Sephiroth. He neither acknowledged Aerith's presence, nor denied it.

"Sir Sephiroth." Aerith smiled.

"Mommy, the bad people." Axel said holding onto Aerith's hand. The Queen gave his hand an affirmative squeeze, she hadn't meant to be so startled, but the result of it caused her to lose control of herself, temporarily reverting Axel to his most innocent state, his childhood.

"Bad people?" Jenova asked.

"Yes, it would seem your third oldest grandchild and some spurned minor gods are thinking of revolting." Aerith said, her royal robes suddenly feeling confining as opposed to Jenova's simple frock.

"So it has come to pass?" The darkness forever surrounding her face grew even darker. "I feared it would. A war between gods is not something the human world can survive." She turned to Sephiroth. "Go to him, he is your son."

"I have but three sons, that rapscallion can rot."

"You can't turn your back on him now, he needs you, we can still save him now."

"Mother, you are wise, but the matter is dealt with."

Sadness enveloped Jenova's face, her heart hurt for her grandson but it was time for diplomacy, it was time to take action not to wallow in pity.

"Aerith, we have things to discuss." Jenova said no long able to stare her son in the face.

"Can I come Mommy?" Axel asked, still holding her hand.

"Oh dear, I hope this wears off before Roxas returns, he will be terribly upset."

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Their room was immaculate, well; it was by the standards of the rest of the school. Long draping of tapestry fell from the high ceiling in ribbons of velvet and silk, couches littered the floors in several different earthy tones, it was everything an earthbound god needed it to be.

"Cloud what do you make of this situation?" Riku asked, opting to sit on a fainting couch.

"I don't know," Cloud said, a dark look passing over his face. "He _is_ human, but then again he is not."

"It doesn't matter, he doesn't remember us." Roxas said from his seat, his knees were curled up to his chest and his eyes were still red from crying.

"It must be a spell." Riku said shaking his head in frustration.

"A memory spell on a god? You would have to be very powerful." Cloud reminded him.

"But who could have done it?" Riku asked slamming his hand down on the island separating the living room from the kitchen.

"Can't you just snap your fingers and he'll remember?" Roxas asked Riku. "I mean humans are part of nature right? You got that woman to show us here, you could do the same thing to Sora."

"It's not the same, I overindulged all her senses, and called to her _because_ of her love of the world around her. Sora would have to be willing for me to do anything, and he obviously didn't believe a word we said."

"We've got a second chance!" Roxas proclaimed. "And if it doesn't work we could just have Marluxia do it over again."

"Don't be a fool Roxas, time bends for no one but him, he did us a great favor only because of our Grandfather's name, to ask him again would be presumptuous."

"So all that stuff you said about him being the jewel of our family, about him keeping us all together? What was that? Just talk?!" Roxas shouted

"I'm doing what I have to!" Cloud roared, his voice sent Roxas' couch backward against a wall. "I'm keeping a level head, unlike you, for_ his_ sake not because the words coming out of my mouth are idle prater." Unmistakable fear passed over Roxas' face, never had he seen his nonchalant brother so riled. Cloud could cut you with a look, and damage you with a steady voice, but when he yelled it shook your very core. The blond sighed. "I'm sorry Roxie that was just uncalled for."

"Yeah, well we have a bigger problem." Riku sighed.

"What is that?"

"How are we going to pry him away from that human?" Riku asked miserably.

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Sora awoke from the weirdest dream, he had been dressed in a toga of some sort, and he lived in a place where they stood on clouds, the only thing missing had been wings and he would have sworn it had been heaven. He looked around to see that it was still very much midnight, what a strange thing.

"What's wrong?" Chase had the sexiest morning voice, it was deep and filled with sleep, and it rumbled Sora's head against his chest.

"Nothing." Sora yawned. "Just thinking about a dream." He looked up at the boy. "Did you fall asleep?" He questioned, receiving a kiss on the lips.

"For like ten minutes, but I've been watching you sleep." The tall brunet admitted.

"You never struck me as the type of person who would do that." Sora said kissing him again.

"What type of person is that?" Chase asked.

"The kind that got attached." Sora sat up and looked.

"Why not?" Chase asked running his hand up and down the other boy's stomach.

"Well, you met me at a party, and I gave you a blowjob—"

"Best damn blowjob of my life." Chase laughed.

"Anyway," Sora rolled his eyes. "You almost knocked my lights out trying to hide the fact that you're gay."

"Bisexual." Chase corrected.

"Whatever. Same thing to me. The whole base of our relationship is me making your parents believe that I'm a girl, so you won't be disowned, but what happens when they leave? Where does that leave me?"

"Where do you want it to leave you?"

"I don't know…I mean I really like you, or I think I do, and I like your family for the most part, but if they find out I'm not really a girl then its all over for us." When arms wrapped around his waist Sora leaned back into the touch resting his head on the strong shoulder.

"They don't ever have to know, and when I turn eighteen we don't have to worry about it, Sora I want to be able to pamper you, treat you like a god. Because you'll be mine, more than just your mind and your body, we connect so much on a spiritual level too, and I may have been an idiot, I might still be an idiot, but I know what this is, I know that I love you."

Those three little words ignited something in Sora, something old, older than his actual self, and something that brought on another of his powers, though he only recognized it as arousal. The God of Love had remembered seduction, not by means of human methods but one that could have an entire room on it's knees with a mere look, one that did not have to be directed at anyone, yet everyone would feel it. The art of seduction for the God of Love was a dangerous thing, it could bring on mania, insomnia, psychosis, as well as lust. When he was at his peak, with memories in tact Sora would have never used it, would have never even though of it, the consequences could have been dire, but now with his mind clouded with human emotion he cast a spell without even knowing it.

"I love you too." He said simply. It never affected gods other than the uncomfortable arousal, but they had their own ways of dealing with it, other gods were more than willing to sleep with each other, and why shouldn't they? They were beautiful, and forever. But a human, who could only maintain their outer beauty for so long and it would have adverse effects.

"Sora, take off your boxers." Chase's eyes were clouded with the lust, but tinted with mania.

"It's the middle of the night, we have school tomorrow, I was about to call it a night, Chase." The younger looking boy protested, but Chase gripped his arms.

"Sora, I want you, I don't know what it is but I want you so bad right now, It feels like breathing is getting harder, and my heart is pounding, I can't see straight Sora, that's how badly I need you!" Chase pleaded. "It isn't like we haven't done it before."

"I said I didn't want to, not tonight." Sora insisted, but his eyes were locked with the other boy's. He had initiated it without knowing how deeply he had just affected Chase, the boy would never love anyone the same again. Either he would have a strong sexual attraction to them, or he would want almost nothing to do with them. It was fixable of course, but Sora was not himself, and he could not overpower Chase because he did not know of his extra strength.

"Please, Sora, please?" It was beyond sad, but it made Sora smile.

"Only if you let me sleep afterwards." Sora said giving into the kisses, grinding his increasingly sweaty body against the other. Chase didn't say another words, he ripped Sora's boxers from his waist and left the boy starkers on the couch. To say that our brunet was surprised may have been an understatement. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise." He said sarcastically. "You don't have to tear my clothes off."

"Enough talking." Chase said thrusting his mouth on top of Sora's. They began making love, or better yet they began wild, almost calculated, movements that elicited pure pleasure. There were stars bursting in Sora's vision, he wasn't sure where he was, but he could feel the hard texture of the carpet pushing into his chest and one of his legs was resting achingly against the lamp stand on the other side of the couch, Chase was like a demon clawing him, bit him, growling, nearly snarling.

His moans couldn't be helped; his throat was raw with effort after ten minutes of near screaming, and he was surprised he hadn't climaxed yet. The world spun on it's side, and Sora soon could see the ceiling staring back at him, then Chase was where the ceiling had once been. The younger brunet wrapped his legs around the older, he knew which way was which when he ground himself like this.

"Slow down!" Sora cried, his body was one throb now, he was simply an extension of Chase, their bodies where melded. It was becoming more and more painful in a delightfully twisted way, someone brushed his hair out of his eyes, he couldn't tell if it was his hand or Chase's and then that loud, continuous moan became broken and choppy. Surely that couldn't have still been him, could it? He tried to intake some air to make sure he was still breathing, but when he did so a pain traveled down his throat. It was dry and scratchy, he moistened it as best as he could, but it only slightly subsided the pain. "Oh!" He managed out, unable to help it.

Chase grunted, said nothing more, his eyes were squeezed together so tightly Sora could see where he would be wrinkled when he grew old. They continued in that fashion for hours on end, neither wanting to climax before the other.

There was no way to tell what time it was, the clock that hung off the wall had fallen behind the couch, but Sora could see hints of pink sunlight rolling through the window.

"I really don't think I'm going to make it to class today." He sighed.

"Wanna do it again?" Chase asked, not sounding the least bit out of breath.

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Pence walked through the front door with Hayner in tow, they had the most amazing evening. A movie, dinner, then when Hayner got called to go play some Blitzball Pence definitely got to see his best moves, they went out later that evening to the beach, where Hayner coaxed Pence out of his shirt and Hayner found that the boy actually had a really pretty body, tiny muscles were coiled inconspicuously, he was more slim now than he'd ever been, he wasn't actually much bigger than Hayner, just shorter.

But when he walked into the shared dorm of his best friend Sora he thought he might die then and there.

"AH!" Sora screamed looking up, not that his shout distracted Chase.

"Sora!" Pence gasped, clapping his hands against his mouth.

"Yeah, go man!" Hayner laughed, considering that Chase didn't seem to care that they were in the room and Sora's face twisted into a horrified pleasure.

"Chase! Stop!" He shouted; trying to get away, though his legs weren't working as they should have been considering it was noon and he hadn't gone anywhere but against the table, romp up.

"Let them watch." Chase smirked, winking at Sora.

"No, no, no! This isn't cool, Chase please!"

"Oh, goodness." Pence twisted his head in inquiry. "I didn't know he could bend like that." He said laughing.

"Giving you any ideas?" Hayner said, putting his arm around the shorter boy's shoulders.

"Ha, ha, nope. You still have quite a few more dates." Pence said slipping out from underneath the arm. "We'll leave you two to your…business…" He announced tearing his eyes away from the scene and pulling Hayner away.

"Damn, I'll have to try that…" He whispered nonchalantly, loud enough for Pence to hear. When they were safely in their room Sora finally found the strength to push himself away from Chase.

"What's your problem?" He nearly shouted pulling a pair of underwear he found on the floor over his narrow hips. He realized they weren't his when they slid down just a bit, they were obviously Chase's.

"What?" The older, taller, stronger boy asked, obliviously.

"Those were my friends! I told you to stop!"

"I thought you were cool with it, man." Chase said standing and smiling when Sora's face turned red and his eyes roamed over his body. "I mean they weren't complaining."

"But I was!" Sora yelled.

"Were you? Because before they walked in you said you loved my dic—"

"I know what I said!" Sora squeaked. "But that's different, it was private." He said nearly breathless with embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm sorry baby." Chase said walking forward, Sora's eyes bounced with his movements. "Maybe we should make up and finish what we started."

"Am I interrupting something?" Riku knocked on the door. Now if you don't remember Marluxia has changed fate, it's as if Riku, Roxas, and Cloud have been in Sora's life since day one, with a chance that they might be able to restore his memories.

"Damn it! Pence close the door when you come in!" Sora shouted throwing Chase his pants which were located not too far from where he found the underwear. "Sorry, Ku, we're not exactly decent right now." Sora said, his face burning red.

"I see that…" Riku said with a hint of anger, his mouth twitched, but apart from that nothing gave him away.

"Uh, just give us a minute, sit on the…couch?" He looked at the couch and saw that at some point in time it had flipped over, most of the furniture was either lying down, or on its back. Sora ran into the kitchen and brought back out a stool. "Here you go, sit right here, we'll be back in a minute." Sora said grabbing Chase by the hand and reprimanding him more as they headed back to his room.

"Cloud." Riku said under his breath. A shadowy form of the man appeared.

"What is it? Has he recovered any memory yet?" Cloud's shadow asked.

"No. He was fornicating with that human again. I had to witness them. Why the hell aren't you doing this instead of me?"

"Because it was you who jumped in front of us to come here, I wanted you to know the gravity of the situation." Cloud said a bit too calmly.

"You were upset because I came here first?" Riku asked, anger starting to bubble inside of him. "That's the most petty excuse for a—"

"Who are you talking to?" Sora asked, stepping back into the living room fully dressed.

"I was talking on my telephone?" Riku said, inflecting on the word not able to remember what the heck the kids of earth called them.

"I didn't know you had a cell phone." Chase said, his eyes still flecked with bits of mania, but controlled for the most part. Riku took notice of the crazed look and recognized it, but said nothing.

"Yeah, it, uh, died a minute ago." He said backtracking. "Anyway, Sora I was wondering if you wanted to go do something?"

"Actually…" Chase started but Sora cut him off.

"Riku I'd love to, but I'm feeling really tired."

Damn. That wasn't going to work. Okay, maybe he _could _influence Sora's physical body, but his metaphysical one would fight it. He could make Sora's human side obey him, but how would his mind react?

"Come on, we haven't just hung out in like forever." Riku said with a smile, lacing his words with an ancient Siren spell he'd learned a couple of thousand years ago. For a moment it didn't look like it had worked, but Sora walked forward, his shoulders held back strangely and his movement mechanical. His mind was obviously trying to fight the spell, but it appeared the god side had been dwindled so much it had little control over the body. That couldn't be good.

When Sora was standing comfortably, yet still under the spell Riku looked over at Chase, their eyes locking. _"Why don't you go find some nice girl to fornicate with? Then make sure you get caught by Sora, do it somewhere in the open, or with someone who can't keep her mouth closed." _Riku commanded in his mind using the same spell.

"Uh, Sora, I've got someone to go do…or I mean something to do." Chase said walking out of the apartment.

"Yeah, okay." Sora said dreamily.

"Alright, that's taken care of." Riku scanned the life forms in the dorm, there were two. "Tell your roommate you'll see him later." Riku commanded.

"I'll be back later Pence!" Sora shouted appropriately, though he was loosing that dream like stare. The spell was wearing off fast, faster than Riku had anticipated. At least the god in him was fighting.

Riku snapped his fingers for dramatic effect and they were standing in his room, a black grand piano at the end of the room was the one accent of the all white furniture, the walls reached up for what looked like stories, and the plush carpeting seemed to be more comfortable than any bed ever imagined, a reflective pool of water showed a reflection of Kingdom Hearts. The God of Nature sat at the piano, his hands flickering across the keys melodically; he motioned for Sora to sit with him.

"You know I read somewhere that music can help unlock forgotten things in the subconscious of humans." He said playing a quick scale, he inverted it, and then added his own style to it, then it went from a scale to a melody, and from a melody to a concerto. The music seemed to come alive as he fingered the keys, chords and singular with no difficulty.

"That's beautiful." Sora remarked, his eyes gleaming. "Riku…"

The way he said it. Riku's fingers clacked against the wrong key. "Sora?" He asked.

"Where is this? How did I get here?" Sora asked.

"Love?" Riku asked again, he hadn't expected the human method to work.

"What?" Sora asked, his eyes screwing up in confusion. "Love what?"

"You were just saying you loved this song." Riku said almost nonchalantly, running his hands against the ebony and ivory again. The spell had worn off, and the music wasn't doing much. Sora closed his eyes, his aura was almost visible, a light blue, but not enough.

"Woah!" The voice grated nerves and Riku could _feel_ disgust roll into his stomach. "There he is, look at him, the ex-god of love!" The blue man with the flaming head walked forward, his black robes that seemed to be tufts of smoke themselves swirled hazily in the air.

"Hades." Riku snarled. "What in the seven levels of Hell are you doing here?"

"Wrong guy there, Rikki." Hades laughed. "Though I have been confused for him before, the Underworld doesn't have seven levels." The deity corrected. "What? That's all I get? No: "Hey Hades, long time no see? How are the undead?" Geez, it's like pulling teeth with you guys." The God of the Dead waved his hand and a ghastly chair appeared. Skulls decorated the posts, what looked to be multiple femur bones ran down the back, actual metacarpals curled around where he placed his hands, basically the sitting apparatus was decorated for him. "Where's the other little usurper? Rockie?" Hades asked looking around.

"Roxas." Riku corrected and at the mention of his name Roxas appeared.

"What is it 'Ku I was talking to Axel—" He stopped short when he saw the ex-God of Death, the new God of the Dead, sitting there. "What is _that_ doing here?" He asked his sapphire eyes becoming increasingly dark.

"You know what the problem about you being the Death God is? You're too much of a pretty boy, souls need to be scared when they cross that line, you know, like badda-bing! You're dead!" He disappeared and reappeared beside Roxas.

"The reason I'm so much of a better god than you, Hades, is because I'm part of the original Pantheon. I never usurped your power, you were just older than me so you got the job. Think of yourself as the interim Death." Roxas said coolly. That did it. Hades' hair went from it's natural blue to a burning white.

"You little—!!"

"What's your business here Hades?" Riku asked, Sora's eyes were as wide as could be, his breathing was labored.

"That guy's on fire, we should help him!" He whispered to Riku, but when he saw the flames leap, and that they weren't hurting him a whole new fear gripped him.

"My business?" Hades smiled a shark toothed smile, and appeared beside Riku. "I just came to let you know that you're precious Queen was about to be taken, along with the Good Mother, now Ursula didn't want me so say anything, but since I'm such a nice guy I couldn't let you guys not grieve."

"What?!" Roxas exploded. He was on Hades' before the older god could blink, his hands wrapped ineffectively, yet still very painfully, around his throat. Tendrils of black effervesced from the embrace of two personifications of death, the world began to sway and flux as the anomaly continued, for a moment no one on Earth could breathe, for a moment everyone's heart stopped. Just for a moment. Roxas drew his hands back as if he'd been electrically shocked. He realized that if he were to able actually touch Hades in this realm something much worse would happen to the one's around them than he could cause to the blue god.

"Hmph," Hades wiped off his robes of the faux dirt, brushed his shoulders off, and generally righted himself. "Well that should teach you, you little brat. What? Did you think that you being here didn't have an effect on the world?" He asked. "I hate it here, hate the flesh covered souls, hate the scenery, all the green makes me sick.

"They're killing their world though, making it where I get more souls than you get death. Sending themselves directly to me, suicide is a form of death that can't get Rites of Passage you know?" Hades continued. "My purpose." He said finally getting to what he'd come to do. "Is to tell you that you're out of time. There is no way to turn your little lover/brother whoever he is to whichever of you, back into his rightful self. So you'll be an orphan with a dead brother." Hades laughed. "Sounds like the plays of a guy I used to know. Ever heard of Homer? Hell of a poet, blind as a bat, he used to run into walls looking for his quill cause I'd move it around—"

The sound of a sword unsheathing was heard one moment, then Hades against the white wall, his yellowed eyes growing in fear. "You're speaking recklessly." Cloud said standing with his sword against the blue god's chest. The broadness of the sword seemed a bit excessive considering that Cloud was scary enough without a weapon, but regardless Hades was sweating more than he would have been.

"There you are, heh, I was afraid that I'd be off without seeing my favorite of the brat pack." Cloud made a small incision in Hades' chest, causing him to yell out in pain, the black blood oozed out much darker than his shadow filled robes.

"Now spill everything you know, there might not be a way to kill you, but I can make you wish for your own death."

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"Mommy—I—I mean Lady Aerith," Axel said having been cut off from his conversation with Roxas, who had been in stitches that he couldn't think correctly. "I think Hades went after Roxie."

"That isn't something we need to worry about." Aerith said waving him off. "Believe me, Hades could not handle Roxas, but with Cloud there he'll wish he never set foot on Earth."

"Yes," Jenova comment, dropping the veil of darkness from around her, she had already instructed Axel not to look too completely at her because he would be rendered immobile, Aerith already knew this and was looking directly over Jenova's eyes. "Let us focus on the problem at hand. Kadaj is an asset to them, more than likely he will be used to counteract your powers." She paused to look at Aerith, who's back straightened from the effort of the stare.

"I will do my best," Aerith said through stiff lips, Jenova usually restrained herself more, but the gravity of the situation seemed to make her a bit more haphazard.

"Sephiroth." She said in a clearly unamused tone.

"Mother." His voice drifted down somberly from the Heavens, it housed them in it's volume, and influence. The dower man appeared standing next to his mother, not flinching at the sight of her without the mask of darkness, he was quite possibly the only being capable of doing such, and living with his sanity and movement.

"I am not speaking with you as your mother," Jenova said standing elegantly, her hair falling about her in a beautiful mess of blue curling around her, trying to make itself more presentable for her, not a strand out of place. Her frock also seemed to straighten itself, unwrinkling upon her sudden change of stance.

Sephiroth did something that Aerith knew she would never see again in any lifetime. He knelt down to the floor, his impossibly long sword trailing behind him like a deadly appendage knowing not where to end. His head bowed to her till she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then how may I serve you my liege?" He asked, no hint of sarcasm in his voice.

The man named Sephiroth was a solitary being. He needed nothing from anyone, and he desired very little from the universe, he seemed quite content with his near infinite power, asking for more would have been pure greed in his eyes. He had been known as the Harbinger of Death in one in society, and the Angel of Life in another, he was a complex being who was not prone to any mood aside from apathy, letting Fate play his part out; Fate who so loved Sephiroth that he would bend for him, if only asked, _because_ Sephiroth seemed to be the only one who could decide and alter the fate of others, he was in a sense still a God of Death, though that role had been played out, dramatized, and altogether muddled completely he hardly recognized himself as one. Sephiroth spent most of his time in the past, because he could, though when he went he could not alter it he would relive being with his wife, the mortal woman whom he had almost canonized, but her damn humanity had taken her from him.

Now he was in the present though, very much aware that his son could cause a sort of apocalypse to the entire pantheon. You may want to note that for any pantheon the apocalypse is different, for the Trinity it's a glorious rapture taking all the believers to be with their one true Lord God, for the Nordic warrior found themselves taken to Valhalla, the Greeks, of old and the ones who still believed, were taken to one of the Underworlds, but for those brought together by the Bringer and Jenova, the pantheon with no name, existence ceased. The reason there were so many gods and goddesses in this particular pantheon was not because every little thing needed a god, nor was it because the people of the first world, when Earth had but one continent, were that religious, but in fact because the people of Pangaea were so spiritual they became what they worshipped. Every god on Kingdom Hearts not born from a goddess had at one point in time been human. There had been many, many that had lost their way, so many, whose hearts were so confused, or tainted with a blinding anger, that they became slave beings known as Heartless.

The things known as Heartless were so many in number _because_ so many of them had lost their way when they had ceased to exist in the hearts of the humans.

"Rise." Jenova said, always hating his theatrics when he had to obey her. He did so slowly, raising his shoulders first, then straightening his back, his black leather duster didn't so much as squeak as he arose, knowing exactly just who was wearing it. "You _will _halt your son's actions, you _will _tell him that he will be held accountable for anything he does, and that a revolt would be punishable by law."

Sephiroth smirked, the sight of it sent a hard, cold shiver down Axel's spine. "Mother, you have foreseen the outcome of that event, as have I, we cannot help seeing those events. It will anger Kadaj for me to scold him, I fear that is why he is doing what he is doing, because I was so harsh with him in the first place." The man paused, waiting for his mother to respond. It may have been amusing to anyone with precognitive abilities to argue with someone else with the same power, but Jenova did not seem to like his snide attitude.

"It was not a request, nor did I ask you to tell me what I already know. It occurs, so obviously you speak with him no matter what you pretend to decide here to save face. Sephiroth, drop this charade reconcile with your family, our family, it could be the end of this world as we know it."

"You can also see that we will be reborn into a new world." Sephiroth answered. "One we are believed in." Aerith gasped audibly, and Axel's hacking cough didn't help his deer-in-the-head lights demeanor.

"I see a lot of things, that doesn't make them anymore true, at one point in time I saw myself falling by Aerith's hand and plummeting to the world, I saw you, clad in human flesh, scouring Earth, spreading your workings into the beings of other people, claiming to sail the cosmos once you found and restored me, so that we could rule the universe, I saw Aerith's son fall for the human named Tifa,"

"I saw her as a goddess, she was beautiful, but she became a Heartless." Jenova sighed, and for the first time in the light of the day anyone who gazed upon her was not struck by immobilization, but they could see her plainly, underneath the beauty she wore was the universe, old and fragile, her very soul was visible without the mask, and her soul was both finite and infinite. Jenova's weak spot. Many had stopped believing, but as long as the gods and goddesses themselves believed in her she was whole, Sephiroth's questioning of her had made her tired, an in that tiredness she revealed more than she'd ever wanted to. "I see a lot of things my son, many that would make your countenance burst wide in agony from trying to contain it all."

Sephiroth bowed again, a hint of sorrow touched the lines of his mouth, and by that it is meant that he frowned. "I will do what I can." He said simply.

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"Where has Hades gotten off to?" Maleficent questioned Oogie Boogie.

"Hoo! That guy? Why should you care when ole Oogie's around!" He smiled, revealing his bug teeth.

"Because you twit, Hades is more powerful than you would imagine, he may be an imbecile but he has powerful connections." Maleficent explained as if the Bag of Bugs should have known that. They stood in her new erected castle, built with black brick and mortar.

"I don't see how he's got more powerful connection than I, the Boogie Man." Oogie said, moments away from announcing just how powerful he and his connections were.

"Because, you disgusting pot of pilfered insects, he may feel bad blood for his brother, but Zeus has no qualms with Hades." She informed.

"So…he's no Sandy Claws." Oogie said proudly.

"You dolt, Zeus and his family could provide us with unlimited power and strength! Couple them with the endless amount of Heartless, and the few of us and Jenova stand not a chance!" She raised her staff to the dark heavens emphatically.

"There are only like twelve of those guys, Maleficent, eleven without Hades, and not to rain on your parade, but they're good guys."

"As if I didn't know that." She sneered, her teeth showing pearl white against her green skin. "Do you think that I don't know that? Try using that brain of yours if it isn't too distracted by the buzzing of your empty thoughts." She turned from him. "We turned a powerful god human, did we not?"

"Well, yes but—"

"Employing a similar strategy it should not be too hard to corrupt a god then, should it?"

"I don't think so—" Oogie tried.

"That's your problem in the first place!" Maleficent shouted swiveling around so quickly on her heel that her cloak whooshed past Oogie Boogie's face. "No more of this, go find Hades, bring him back here, and then we will coerce him into a little family reunion."

"Hmph, a please and thank you would be nice." Oogie said before disappearing in a huff of black smoke.

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"That's all I know kid!" Hades yelled, feeling his arm break from the grip Cloud had on it. "Maleficent doesn't exactly tell me everything, brat, she acts just like—you know what, if we're done I'll just be popping out of here, m'kay? Peachy keen?" Hades was all aflame, there wasn't a part of him left without blaze.

"Oh no, I said I was going to make you beg for death." Cloud said, Riku smiled a bit at the irony, Roxas had taken his seat, and was laying on Sora's shoulder. Sora, who had passed out when Cloud materialized beside him, did not look to be stirring anytime soon.

"Oh, Hades, what would you do without me?" A bubbly voice called, and there stood Oogie Boogie.

"Just get me out of here you stupid Bag O' Beetles!" Hades said, the fire was now almost blinding to look at with a human eye.

"What ever happened to manners around here?" Oogie asked, suddenly bugs were crawling all over Hades, smothering out his flames and swarming his figure completely, Cloud let go of the man and as soon as he did the bugs dispersed, no sign of Hades at all. "Well, tah all." Oogie said smiling widely that he had accomplished his goal and disappeared along with his bugs.

They stood there for awhile, just transferring stares at one another. "At least we kinda know what's going on now." Roxas spoke.

"I guess that's something." Cloud replied, sheathing his sword. A loud snore erupted from beside the Death God, who jumped in fright.

"I suppose we should get him back to bed." Riku said. "Though I don't think he'll be happy to what he wakes up to." Riku grabbed Sora about the waist and transported them back to his dorm.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Roxas asked.

"Knowing Riku? Not anything good." Cloud answered.

**Author's Notes:** Read and review _por favor. _


	8. Chapter 8

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes:** Couldn't decide on a good chapter name for this one so I stuck with both of them. There are still some unsolved issues to deal with, so we get to deal with that in this chapter.

**Chapter Eight: Dueling Arias **or **Cacophony of Malcontent **

You would not believe the inside of Jenova's palace, I hardly believe it myself and I have seen it personally. It nearly drove me mad at the very sight of it, but then again I am only human. Each room is a representation of the person that is to inhabit it, if you were to step into Yazoo's room you would find a collection of guns, one's from the past, the present and even a gift from Marluxia that could only be found in the future. But that could be why it is so very difficult to maneuver inside of Jenova's palace. At one point in time there had been an abundance of gods and goddess living inside of it, almost like a glorious village. Each room remained as it had been when that particular deity had lived in it.

Why once, when I visited the palace to allow these stories to be told to all of you, I was nearly eaten by wild beasts found only in the minds of small children, the God of Dreams had kept them as pets, and they didn't seem to want to leave when he had been assimilated, nor had the room changed after his disappearance. I barely escaped with my life, if it had not been for the servant named simply Thirteen I would not have made it.

Inside it was like a pure Utopia, every need met, every whim taken care of, but gods don't need to eat, they don't need to drink, the only immediate needs they have are love and power, and they have near infinite power as it were. That is probably the immediate reason why it seemed like the gods of every religion (save Christianity) were always in turmoil over the affairs of the heart.

In my stays at Jenova's unnecessarily immaculate palace I found that much like the Dream god's room, some doors should never be opened. There is one that sucks you into the very vacuum of space, and one in which upon stepping into the room you are transported to a field full of fluffy bunnies and flowers. I don't recommend either.

But one room in particular which one would not want to open without permission, even worse than a field of bunnies, is Kadaj's. Depending on how powerful you are there would be a different sort of pain that would erupt inside your body upon doing so. Of course, had I as a human opened the door I would be worse than dead, but for someone like Sephiroth he opened the door and merely sighed lightly. Of course, this was still a great feat altogether, that means he had acknowledge the slight discomfort. A powerful spell indeed.

"My son." Sephiroth said upon entry, already knowing how this would play out.

"Sire." Kadaj answered back not looking up from his reading, the book was thicker than him, and probably weighed more. A ghost of a smile fleeted across his face, he could see the chubby child Kadaj had once been running naked across his home back on earth, he could see Loz crying in the corner because Yazoo had stolen one of his marbles and shot it out of his slingshot. His beautiful wife walking in with Riku attached to her hip, the boy reaching out to embrace his father, and of course Sephiroth lamented to the toddler, even if his face wasn't beaming with pride his heart was swelling over with it.

But this was not then, and the spark of reminiscence faded from Sephiroth's eye. The older deity walked into the room and was surprised at the resistance of the air around him; it seemed to try to push him out of the room and he had to make it bow to him, something he wasn't fond of doing.

"Kadaj." Sephiroth said again, standing over his son, staring down at him with his mako green eyes. The young man still didn't look up. "What are you reading so intently?" Sephiroth asked, not ever one to be uninterested in his children.

"It's a culmination of the meaning of life by Earth's greatest scholars." Kadaj said nonchalantly.

"Interesting." Sephiroth sated. "But it will have to wait, close your book please." Kadaj complied. "Mother has brought it to my attention that you have been in the midst of the upcoming revolt," He paused when the slight look of surprise overtook his son's face. "You can't hide your deeds from us, my child."

"And if I have been?" Kadaj asked, placing his book to the side.

"You know the repercussions of treason." Sephiroth said not sugar-coating any of his words.

"You'll turn me to a Nobody? Father I hardly think you have the stomach." Kadaj's face exploded in pain as he was rocked by the hard hand across his visage. His eyes misted with tears, and he knew that his jaw had been knocked out of place.

"Perhaps you have been associating with scum for too long, son, it appears as if you forget yourself." The boy didn't say anything, his eyes burned with unfulfilled drops, and a growing angry hatred. "I forbid you from this war, Kadaj, I forbid you from participating in the downfall of our civilization for the simple fact that you are seeking an unwarranted revenge on a situation you caused, and exacerbated. You should be grateful to Queen Aerith that she did not bring you into the courts for your actions, or blame you for Sora's fall from grace."

"The god of loving is a teasing, flippant being with whom I shall speak no more upon, as for my seeking of revenge that has already been taken care of." Kadaj reveled in what his father didn't know, that made him smile.

"What do you mean?" Sephiroth asked.

"Father, you know of Hades?" Kadaj answered.

"The previous God of Death, yes, though I have not seen him about since Roxas was of age to claim his rightful throne."

"Ah," Kadaj paused for effect. "Well you see father, Hades has been stewing in the Underworld, lording over the dead he has been forced to not only watch, but care for." Sephiroth looked on, not at all disturbed by the fact that he had been standing the entire time this conversation had been going on. "And you know of Maleficent?"

"An evil brutish goddess." Sephiroth said, still unabashed.

"She is the one heading our revolt, though the replacement Sea Goddess would like to believe it was she who was to let someone new step into power."

Therein lied the question.

"Why?" Sephiroth said, not one to show disinterest in his children.

"Because when it is all said and done, and those minor gods and goddess have accomplished what they want I know they will be overtaken, they can only hold you and Grandmother back for so long, that is, without the help of myself and my brothers."

"Oh?" Sephiroth asked.

"Indeed." Kadaj said. "Grandmother no longer values power, we've been living in pain for too long father, surely even you can feel that void."

"I am content in knowing what I have, as opposed to what I could have." Sephiroth retorted.

"Are you truly father?" Kadaj asked, flinging himself from the bed to stand up as tall as he could, though he was still two heads shorter than Sephiroth. "Pretend all you want, but I can see past your guise! You long to be worshipped and known! You long for the fear that humans once had when they spoke of you."

"I would not let my lust comprise what is best for everyone, Kadaj you could single handedly end us all."

"I'm trying to save us all! You can see it can't you? You can see what I want to accomplish, Maleficent, Hades, Ursula, none of them have what it takes to complete this, let them have Kingdom Hearts! We can have everything!"

Sephiroth looked away. "We cannot interfere in their world, Kadaj, it would be a catastrophe. The trio that has gone to retrieve Sora are causing too much disorder as it were."

"You are the God of Cowardice!" Again an explosion of pain, but it was much more intense this time, as if his nerves had been bled from his body, set aflame, stepped on, and sewed back in individually. It didn't let up this time, Sephiroth's glare the weapon, and Kadaj's being the victim.

"Hold your tongue." Sephiroth answered. "Without the humans how do you think we would survive? There are those that seek knowledge that still speak of us, archeologists, professors, and even curious youths. It may not be how it was but times have changed. I admit that to believe what I once was, revered and worshipped would make me the most happy being in all the universes, but the future is fickle, ask Marluxia, it is not always the same as we perceive it, if you were burdened with vision of it you would understand."

"I don't need your damn visions to know what good will come from this." The boy said ignorantly.

"Then I will stop you." Sephiroth said, his hand holding onto Masamune with purpose.

"Are we to do battle here?" Kadaj asked his own double bladed sword appearing in his hand.

"In your grandmother's house?" Sephiroth asked appalled.

"Father," Kadaj laughed and it made Sephiroth smile genuinely. "You are a stickler for the rules." The sword disappeared from the younger god's hand. "No, not in Grandmother's house, we should not even speak of it till the battle. It is bad enough that we haven't spoken since my exile, I would like to spend time with my father before I must kill him."

Sephiroth reached out and placed a hand on his son's shoulder, pulling him close. It was an awkward embrace, but it was warm and reminiscent of an older day.

"Till we do battle, my son." Sephiroth said kissing the top of Kadaj's head.

"I will miss you after you're gone, father." Kadaj replied smiling; with that Sephiroth left having already known that no blood would be shed this hour. But the bell tolled soon, and the brawl would be great if it happened the way he saw it currently. As he said though, the future is ever changing.

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"I have to go check on Roxas!" Axel said, his flames were leaping about him in such excitement that they'd give Hades a run for his money.

"I can't allow you to do that, Father only knows how long they'll be to retrieve poor Sora's memories and you are needed here. We only have a smattering of main gods left, and even less of those are as powerful as you, I, or Lady Jenova."

"But—!" Axel tried.

"Queen Aerith, we can handle ourselves till the return of all of your children, and my grandson." Jenova smiled and the universe sighed in content happy to see those pearly white teeth flash in something besides anticipation. Aerith made the mistake of staring in Jenova's eyes so she could not reply a retort, Axel took this as a means to leave.

"Thank you Queen Aerith! Lady Jenova!" He bowed and disappeared in a puff of smoke that smelled oddly of a struck match. The woman with the universe at her beckon looked away from Aerith and the Queen let out her own sigh. Everyone around the world became more light hearted at her release, their cloudy minds clearing just the slightest bit making the humdrum of their day more bearable. Yes, these women were powerful and had such a great influence over everything, and even with Jenova's precognitive abilities they would not see what happened next.

"Bad times indeed." A man's voice echoed through the throne room. If you've never seen a surprised god its probably a good thing, Axel can tell you first hand that being subjected to your most innocent time sucks, and no one has ever surprised Jenova and lived. But the man that had surprised them had never been alive in the first place, he had died, but he had never been born.

"Father?" Aerith asked, standing up so suddenly that the chair she had been sitting in barely had time to catch itself and sit itself upright again. She apologized to it but her eyes never left the man walking towards her so gallantly.

"Bringer." Jenova said trying to conceal her emotions but even she couldn't perceive what was going on. He waved her off elegantly. Perhaps when you pictured the Bringer you saw an elderly gentlemen, hunched over with age and knowledge but strong. Maybe you saw a man in full armor swords at the ready and a scowl ever present save for when he stared at those he loved most. If I were a better author I may in fact indulge you on these facts, but as I'm not only an author, but a reporter of these events that you have forgotten because of your mortality, but the Bringer was none of these.

His elegance put Sephiroth to shame, his eyes cut deeper than any blade, real or fictional, and his personality was as askew as the large, blue strand of hair that defied gravity in a feather like manner.

"I am not that man anymore." The Bringer said his words washed over them like lulling waves, relaxing them into a state of security. "I will go by that name given to me before the universe was birthed, when it was only us, the forces of nature, who lived so peacefully upon the land of Terra."

"The name you swore never to reveal?" Jenova asked. There were so many things so much older than us, if I even began to explain The Bringer's beginnings I do not think I would be able to finish Sora's story. A very small portion is that long before the Universe was a twinkling in the Great Bahamut's eye, who is the true connector to all universe's the king of everything and anything is under his domain though now he barely bats a wing at the unrest in his sleeping state, there were four beings whom Bahamut gave specific instruction to. Among these beings were Jenova and the Bringer, but as these things go all of the beings forgot one another. It was not till they were at one another's throats did Jenova and the Bringer remember their past.

"What is that name father?" Aerith asked.

"Kuja, the unfair." His skin was a translucent blue and his body radiated untold power, his eyes (much like all of his grandchildren's) were of the ocean, of the sky, of the pale blues in the veins of the dead.

"That is a horrible name, father." Aerith broke and ran over to him. She placed her hand on his cheek only to find that it was drenched as if he were being held underwater. Her hand receded and she brought up the hem of her gown to wipe away the wetness, but it didn't go away.

"Horrible as it may be, it is who I am." Kuja said placing his hand atop hers and moving it from his face to his chest. "My canary, I am not alive now as I speak to you, my conscious returned to its original purpose at hand, but I pulled myself together enough to come see you."

It hurt Aerith's heart to no end that she could not remember her father's most manifest power. Truth be told she had been forgetting whether his eyes had been auburn or turquoise, if his hair had been short or long, if he smelled of musk or of a more flowery scent.

"He returned to where everything ends up eventually, to what he truly is." Jenova said, finally standing. "He returned to the ocean. For he is the ocean, as I am the wind, and our other brethren are of flame and earth; isn't that right Bringer?"

"Call me that no more, 'Nova." Twice that day Jenova was surprised, her heart warmed at the nickname that spoke of a youth filled with love and affairs and mingling touches, but she squelched the urge to touch him. When the ocean and the air met good things did not always happen.

"Then call me not 'Nova, but my true name." The lovely woman said, wishing her pale cheeks would betray her no more, the blush was shameful at best.

"Oh? Truly do you not remember our nights of passion that brought us to this universe? How I would hold you like this," He brought her close and she quivered more than she would have liked, this would have bad repercussions if she didn't end it.

"We are not they anymore, Kuja, we are too powerful here. That is why you forgot me, and I you." Unlike Aerith Jenova was only soaked by the line of perspiration on her forehead, Kuja's element not even penetrating her shell.

"I never truly forgot you know." Kuja insisted.

"Say what you will, your silver tongue has charmed more than I." Jenova shot back.

"The matter at hand…" Aerith said meekly, but they ignored her.

"'Nova, my breeze," Kuja said smiling a way that Aerith had never seen.

"My son dislikes your daughter, do you know why?" Jenova asked, skirting around the arm that was meant for her to come forward into. This little tidbit pricked Aerith's interest.

"Why is that, my breeze?" She shuddered at another of his nicknames for her, he had once called her his Summer's Breeze.

"Because I passed on the hatred to him, because you never gave me children to call ours." Jenova reported calmly. "I meant not to, but it was too great my want for children and my hatred for having being forgotten. I fear that there was a residual hatred passed onto all of my grandson's, but it varies in them stronger here, more diluted there, but it is still in that line of sons."

"Will our wonderful tragedy ever truly be complete?" Kuja asked. "My canary here was born because I still had a deep love inside of me, and though I could not remember to whom it was I longed to be with I knew it was there. Of course, Jecht had created such beautiful creatures, modeled after us all; I focused this love on one of those creatures. Perhaps I was the first to partake in those lovely things." The air grew a bit colder, it bit frostily at him. "Sorry!" He replied jovially. "Well that's where the big human craze came from, after Aerith was born I remember seeing millions of other people around, but I'm not sure how they got there…"

"They're products of our being here." Jenova said, finding that she was growing tired of standing on the ground, she floated a bit. "From our powers they stemmed into this world, we dragged Jecht and Xande here accidently, Jecht, the loveable fool, should never have created humans, and Xande should not have given them his gift, and you should not have lain on the earth for so long, and I should not have chased after you, but here we are."

"Yes, here we are. Me, a shadow of what I once was, and you hanging on so tightly to the ideas of the past that it ages you obscenely." Kuja didn't look remorseful for his comment, and Jenova didn't feel slightly insulted.

"Can we even save them?" Jenova asked.

"When have we intervened purposely?" Kuja answered with a question.

"It doesn't seem to matter what we do," Jenova answered.

"What would your son say to that?"

"He would say that does not sound like the mother he knows." Sephiroth said appearing at his mother's side, feeling his presence was needed.

"The matter at hand is not linked to the past, or who did what, or why this or that happened." Aerith said loudly this time, she stood beside her father and entwined his hand with hers.

"She speaks truthfully," Sephiroth said, standing as the lineage to one of the powers that be, as did Aerith. "We will go to war, there is no helping that, but perhaps we should gather Jecht and Xande and their children to help us fight."

"Capitol idea!" Kuja said clasping Sephiroth on the shoulder, causing the man to temporarily let a bit of annoyance seep through his visage. "Ah, no touching, your mother did say you were the embodiment of hatred for me."

"She did me a great injustice." Sephiroth said. "Because I loathe you, but I respect you nonetheless."

"Good, we'll need a strong bond to think of a plan to win this war, I can't say exactly how strong Jecht or Xande are either." Kuja smiled brightly and put an arm around Aerith's shoulders.

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"Can we really do this here?" She was pretty, pretty enough to make anyone jealous.

"He won't mind, there aren't any other beds in the place." Chase said to her, quite forgetting her name was Esther Littman, she was a year older, and a grade higher, and a mite more drunk than Chase, but he was being heavily influenced by two different spells of two very powerful gods, which can be taxing on a poor human's soul, believe me (I know from experience).

Esther Littman was a college freshman, but she had stopped off to see her little sister since she was in town for the week, she didn't plan on there being a party, or alcohol, or cute guys that would totally make her cheating boyfriend jealous. She kissed him and thought how Tony would ball his fists up in malice if he saw her now. Chase had his hand up her skirt and was probing her deeply with his fingers, she moaned loudly forgetting Sora was lying right next to her.

Esther's hands fumbled, but eventually she undid Chase's pants, she smiled at her prize. "Well hello." She said greedily, not expecting to actually have fun with the experience, she was only cheating because she'd been cheated on.

"Like what you see?" Chase asked, taking off his shirt and throwing it to the side and Esther bit her bottom lip in answer. "I figured you might," The brunette girl wiggled out of her thin panties, twisted them about her thumb and forefinger and flicked them at Chase naughtily.

Sora snored lightly causing Chase to look over at him. Something was wrong with this, his mind was telling him that much, but he couldn't process it. He continued with what his body was directing him to do, Esther's arms wrapping around his neck as he entered her, shuddering at the feeling of ecstasy.

It _was _wrong; the two spells over him began conflicting horribly. He thrust with so much force that Esther couldn't keep her yelping moan quiet. Sora woke up hastily, his head throbbed and he didn't want to deal with telling his boyfriend to turn the television off especially if Chase was watching porn. Again; it had happened a few times before.

"Turn the T.V. off you horny bastard." Sora mumbled without opening his eyes. He wasn't answered. There was a strange movement on the bed. "Ew, Chase if you're jacking—" But he was stopped dead in his tracks when a pair of auburn eyes met his.

Like I said she was pretty, caught with a look of pure euphoria etched across her face and his boyfriend on top of her, now Sora might have overreacted, but he didn't have complete control over himself.

"Sora…calm down…" Chase began but the boy was off the bed in a whirl of sheets and pajamas pants. It probably wasn't easy for the two fornicating teens to see the small boy's eyes flash blue, not just his pupils but the whites as well. It may have been even more unnerving when his unnecessarily spiky hair stood on end even more so. But what might have been the scariest thing of all was that even amongst the static air, and his eerie way of moving forward as if he didn't touch the ground, but how calm his face _did _look.

Oh in those eyes there was an anger, a hatred, an ancient power that not even I have the words to describe. But that face was like the sea before the worst storm in years hit the shore. So serene, peaceful, beautiful. The mania in Chase made him yearn for Sora's touch, and he ground his hips into Esther, who unwillingly, whimpered pleadingly. A mistake on her part.

"You, girl." Sora addressed her, his voice was wavering in octaves from insufferably loud to an almost whisper. A tiny fissure ran over Sora's skin, then another, and another, till tons of breaks were visible on his near naked body, the cracks were glowing blue much like his flashing eyes. "So you seek revenge in love, you will be in a continual flux of such, your heart will harden and wither and you will die a spinster, lonely, bitter, and always in remembrance of this moment."

As soon as he said it it was almost as if it had been locked into her very soul. She moved away from Chase, grabbed her things off the floor and stared at Sora with eyes full of fear.

"I don't know what the fuck you are, but stay away from me!" She screamed and ran out, shoes in one hand and undergarments in the other.

"Sora, baby, I'm sorry. I—I don't know what came over me." Chase was standing suddenly, shame must have held him because he suddenly covered himself.

"Oh that's fine, _baby. _Come here so I can think of what to do with you." He couldn't help it, perhaps it was the mania, or guilt, or the last effects of Riku's spell, but he walked forward nonetheless, kneeling at Sora's feet.

"Please," Chase said not feeling like himself at all, but then again neither one of them felt particularly normal. "Spare me."

"Men who act like mice, groveling at my feet, so shall they become this fate they will always meet." The incantation probably wasn't necessary, but like I said they weren't feeling normal. It was unreal for a part of Sora's brain to see his boyfriend shrink into the shape of a mouse, but then again a different part of him felt complete. The power that flowed through him in spikes was neither pleasing nor aggravating, it was there as if it had always been, but every time he reached for it consciously it went away.

"Are you okay, Sora?" Pence was standing at the door, mouth agape.

"Okay? He should feel better than ever." Riku walked into the room almost as if he had appeared out of no where.

"Riku, that was a rather unorthodox way of doing things." Cloud said perturbed, but whether it was because he hadn't thought to shake Sora to the very core, or because the trick had actually hurt his little brother they couldn't be sure.

"Look at those," Roxas said walking past his sibling, his friends, and the human. He ran a hand over the serrated lines in his flesh. "It's like the human in is an outer shell."

"Roxas, have you even heard a word that we've said?" Riku asked smiling.

"I have! Its just been hard to hear you what with being confined to that damn room, I wouldn't want to accidently kill someone like I don't know how to control myself or something."

"Enough you two," Cloud said going to examine the new additions to his youngest brother. "Maybe we can rip the flesh away?"

"Sounds painful." Riku said catching a look pass between Sora and Pence.

"Uh, you know Sora and I can just go see the nurse, why don't you guys go back to your dorm?" Pence suggested.

Before any of them could reply there was a loud crackling like the sound of a log catching flame, the n the distinct smell of a lit match, and a puff of black smoke.

"Axel!" Roxas said happily, maybe for the first time in quite a long time. When Sora jumped he grabbed the boy's hands, and was even more overjoyed when he saw that his touch didn't cause Sora's skin to turn that deadly black, instead it was a bit of a blush red, it wasn't good, but much better.

"Yo." Axel said smiling momentarily, then remembering why he had come. "Cloud." He spoke, sombering up quickly. "There is talk of war, your mother and The Good Mother _and _get this: the Bringer!"

"What?!" Riku and Roxas said at the same time, both shooting their heads up from examining Sora, who was looking increasingly more human, and uncomfortable.

"Axel we really don't have time for games, I think we've figured out what is going on with Sora." Cloud said shaking his head at the red head.

"But I saw—"

"And I told you to stay with mother!" Roxas said walking over to his older, he put his hands on his hips. "What if something happens while you're away?"

"He did say she had Lady Jenova with her." Cloud pointed out.

"Okay, but still." Roxas conceded. "Why are you really down here Axel?" The smaller boy floated up and kissed his lips, he pulled back surprised. Usually Axel was all over him, and the heat between them…well it was normal.

"I'm not kidding Roxas, the Bringer is back, and we're going to war." He was stone faced, not a hint of that beautiful playful smile, he was serious.

"Our grandfather is dead." Cloud said.

"Do gods ever truly die?" Axel asked.

"They continue to exist, his powers were spread onto us and other, he could not exist without a purpose."

"He has a purpose! He's the ocean!" Axel said flailing his arms trying to get Cloud to understand.

"You're losing it Axel." Roxas said patting him on the head, pressing his body closer to him. He had missed Axel, if you remember the gods have a bad perception of time, so what was two days to us was a lifetime to him. And what thirty years were to us to Riku it seemed like eons.

"No, I'm not, come back with me babe, then you'll know for sure." Axel pleaded.

"Cloud, I believe him." Roxas said looking at his brother seriously. "He's not very funny, and he forgets his punch lines, if this was a joke he would have given up by now."

"Thanks baby." Axel said flatly.

"Anything for you." Roxas smiled kissing him again.

"Focus." Cloud sighed. "If our grandfather is back, maybe he can help us cure Sora."

"You're the one who isn't focused!" Axel said quickly. "War Cloud. There is going to be a war!"

"There are always wars, someone thinks they deserve something, someone else thinks they deserve it more. The gods are fickle." Cloud dismissed.

"Not a civil war. All of Kingdom Hearts, Ursula and Maleficent are leading the heartless and the minor gods against us, there are only a handful of majors Cloud, and almost half of them are standing in this room." He let that sink in and resisted the urge to smirk that they were listening to him now. "They're going to get Jecht and…Xande."

"I've heard of Jecht," Riku said. "The god who created humans, he is one of my idols, but Xande?"

"My old man." Axel said somberly. "I'm his first son, he passed on his main power to me."

33333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

"Look at them Lady Ursula." Maleficent extended her hand reverently. Before them legions and legions of heartless spilled over into the darker parts of Kingdom Hearts, to a place that the light of Aerith did not reach.

"Glorious." Ursula said deviously. "Positively glorious! With this army we'll put them in tidal wave of despair!" The yellow eyes looked at them sadly, the heartless, who were once gods and goddesses great and small now old and young. All who no longer had anyone to believe in them.

"Yes, when Hades returns from his trip home we will know if the Olympians will assist us, if they do not we will take them over all the sooner." Ursula laughed at Maleficent's words evilly, cackling her joy the way only she could do. "Heartless!" The green skinned woman yelled over them, trillions of sad eyes found their way to her face. "See how you all clumsily stumble over one another, hopeless and forlorn in your forgotten wake!"

She had their full attention now. They couldn't answer her, but their faces were piqued with interest.

"Follow us into battle, take back the lands and take your revenge on the people in the world that put you where you are now!" She went on, stepping into the air as easily as if she had wings. "We shall restore you to what you once were, but only after we have accomplished ensuring that Kingdom Hearts is safe for those of us cast aside again! Raise your claws to the sky and give praise, these promises are wells in which you all can put your deepest hopes."

One million by one million claws scratched the air, the eyes of the beasts still sad, but their rising want for at least something to believe in.

Ursula smiled. Maleficent smiled. The universe shivered in fear.


	9. Chapter 9

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes:** This is quite possibly my favorite chapter. So much stuff happens in it, if you've liked this story at all I'm pretty sure you'll like this chapter as much as I do!

**Chapter Nine: Ballad of the Night **

All this talk of Apocalypses shouldn't have you too depressed should it? I mean I understand if you want to stop reading now then please do, because it isn't getting any easier for our heroes. Things only get easier for those storybook heroes that come from impossible odds and still manage to have everything right in the end. But this is not an untrue story, in fact, I'm sure that there are any untrue stories of any religion, it all depends of your perception as the viewer.

I believe so much in Kingdom Hearts that I visit it in my dreams, and I see Marluxia in my waking. I have held hands with Roxas for a brief few seconds, but the pain of getting scorched by a look from Axel was much worse than touching death. I've swam in the fountains, and walked the cobblestone streets, visited the immaculate homes of the gods and goddesses, and drunken a very special wine cooked up by Merlin himself, rest his soul.

But no matter how real Kingdom Hearts is, it wasn't always. Like any other religions, there is always something deeper than was first presented. To sum up my last entry on these events: The Bringer, otherwise known as Kuja, the cruel, had come back in a projected state of consciousness. He and Sephiroth were rounding up Xande and Jecht, the other two forces that helped create this universe.

"This is where Xande lives?" Aerith asked staring at the snow covered mountain tops of another distant part of Kingdom Hearts. You must remember that this is a world of its own, I too was surprised to find that it had so many different corners, the gods tend to stay where the lights of the palace reflect on them but it appeared as if the solitary man had chosen to stay as far away as possible. "Coming here without Axel just seems a bit unfair." The Goddess of Innocence commented further.

"My dear Axel is much younger than you; he was born in a time when it was not uncommon for the God parents to leave their children with the mortal ones while they return back here instead of staying with their families. Axel is a very special case; his mother was part god herself, so he was allowed to be raised in Kingdom Hearts, Xande has always been about his own research, he only has time for work and pleasure, nothing in between." Kuja answered.

"You'll find that your son's lover would probably dislike if we brought him with us, rather than leaving him to Roxas." Jenova said touching the rock of the mountain reverently. It split open and a gateway filled with darkness presented itself to them. They stepped into the pitch black and were immediately shrouded with an intense heat that would have possibly paralyzed lesser beings.

"Accommodating." Sephiroth mused. "The first God of Fire lives in the coldest region of our world but prefers to be so inexplicably warm."

They walked in silence after his remark, Aerith had thousands of questions racing through her mind. Her father had never spoken about how they had come to pass and she had never thought to ask. She assumed that they had just always been. But who was Bahamut? What was Terra like? How had he stayed sane in a place where only five beings existed? But she didn't volunteer any of them, afraid to show her still youthful self. Instead she chose the role route of keeping everything in mystery till it needed to be revealed.

Jenova on the other hand was silent for another reason. She could SMELL Kuja's sweet breath, could feel his nonexistent body pressed up against her. Damn it when he died so was that part of her mind was supposed to as well. She was probably the only god in all of Kingdom Hearts who had never courted a human, and even more conceivably she was the only god in Kingdom Hearts who had not felt the need for love, because she thought love didn't need her nor she it. But here he was, standing in a constant flux of what he once was, preaching his memories of her silently and aloud, she, unlike Aerith, was no longer some wet-eyed girl, she needed no love, needed no man, be he human or more. So then why did she continue to glance in the direction of Kuja?

Because he was beautiful even without his soft flesh? No; she valued beauty, but it would not make her feel like this; like she had when she had sailed across the worlds in the minds of her own humans, in the form of the western, eastern, north, and southern winds. He had first kissed her teasingly when she flew over him, his mists touching her and calling to her. She had skirted closer, filling the sails of the explorer's but more so to find out who that being had been that had made her flutter.

Damn. That was a long, long time ago. She no longer felt that for him! No longer! And yet…

"Who goes there?" The voice would have been more ominous if they weren't four infinitely gifted beings.

"Xande, my friend it is I, Kuja." The self proclaimed man said loudly.

"I know no Kuja, nor am I his friend." Xande said, his voice was like the heat of a furnace, it breathed plumes of heat and sulfur at them not once apologizing for such.

"You old gods and your memories." Sephiroth commented.

"You try being as old as the universe and remembering everyone you come across." Kuja said smiling in the darkness. "Xande, show yourself and you will surely remember us."

In a whirlwind of fiery hellish fury man appeared, unlike Axel who seemed to just materialize with the faint smell of matches, Xande crackled in like a new log on the spit and effervesced the stench of thick black smoke, but what may have been more interesting was how much intense light pervaded the darkness when he appeared. Jenova may have had a thin glow about her, but he was almost light incarnate.

"I see you, and I do not know you." He said glaring at Sephiroth.

"Nor I you." Sephiroth replied just as haughtily.

"Xande, you hothead, I'm talking about me." Kuja laughed stepping forward. He was translucent in this light, they could see through him, he was very clear ocean blue water after all.

"Hothead?!" The previous Fire God was two things: big and strong. His skin was nearly the same color as charcoal, or perhaps more the color of the soot, his eyes were completely yellow, and his hair was a spiked main of white with long tresses hanging over his shoulder and unclothed chest. His body was pure muscle, his broad shoulders adorned an embroidered cloak and he wore baggy yellow slacks held up by a belt, but regardless of his devil-may-care appearance he still looked the pinnacle of royal and proud.

"That's right. A hothead." Kuja said stepping into the man's personal space. Now I know some gods use weapons, and I'm not saying that's an unfair advantage, but Xande just downright did not need one. Does that mean he didn't have one? Nope. He pulled forth a long staff about the same width as a pillar and just slightly taller than his seven feet.

Of course this was the reaction that the ever sly Kuja was looking for. He had no weapon of his own but a jet of water propelled out of nowhere and hit Xande directly in the chest, knocking him back to the ground.

"Father!" Aerith interjected moving to help the fallen man up. Jenova put a hand on the woman's shoulder and shook her head making the younger woman just look on in awe.

The man on the ground sat up, his white hair matted to his face. He threw his head back and laughed.

"Kuja you old bastard!" He exclaimed standing up completely dry. "I would remember that fucking sneak attack from anywhere."

"Sneak attack? You were open!" Kuja said smiling at the man.

"That excuse didn't work way back when, and it won't work now." Xande said jovially towering over all of them. "Forgive me I don't normally get visitors…there we go." The cavern swirled around them like a vortex till in its wake was what looked like a plush ski resort: couches and rugs included. The earthy tones and giant hearth in the middle of the room made it all very cozy, Xande stood in front of the fire looking right at home. "You've also brought along Jenova." Xande said looking at her and instantly recognizing her. "What is the occasion? Utter turmoil? Complete and total disaster? Or did you just miss me?"

"Of course we missed you my friend." Kuja answered back.

"Mm. Who's plotting to take over the world now?" Xande retorted not buying Kuja's tone at all.

"Now?" Aerith asked looking at all three of the most powerful deities she'd ever met.

"Honey you don't think that evil only happens once in your lifetime? We've had to deal with this several times before, many eons ago." Jenova answered not missing a beat.

"Bahamut is still sleeping. Its not like this time is going to be any different." Xande answered sitting in a very fine looking arm chair.

"You'd be surprised what a few gods could accomplish." Kuja replied.

"What happens when Bahamut wakes up?" Aerith asked.

"That's the end." Xande answered.

"The…end?"

"Of everything. Bahamut was the ultimate being, he was complete and wholeness internal and external. But he has multiple personalities. There are so many different Bahamuts in his own mind that he cannot hold together. When that old dragon sleeps he dreams of beings, if nothing else to have something to focus on besides the inhabitants in his head. This time around he dreamt us up,"

Aerith was making mental notes, holding all questions for later.

"The time before us there were others, and the time before that as well. He sleeps to forget, and he sleeps to remember. Of course in his waking there is nothing, because he is too embarrassed by his other selves making a raucous and creating things just to destroy them." A dark look passed over Xande's face. "Perhaps this time when he wakes up he will call us into his mind to fight the other Bahamuts, he has drawn his other creations in before but they never survive.

"Watching over him now in a realm parallel to this one are two figures named Shiva and Ifirit. He, of course, is alone in his own time space, but they watch for movement,"

"And how do you know that upon his waking everything disappears?" Sephiroth asked.

"Ah, I never said everything disappears, I said it ceases to be." Xande laughed that rich laugh again. "Surely you've realized in your many years that technicalities are the way we do things."

"So when you say that we will cease to exist does that mean we will disappear then?" Aerith finally asked, she couldn't hold her question back anymore.

"I've never checked into other dimensions Bahamut has brought about and then woken from. I would say possibly, when you dream do you not forget your dream upon waking? Or is it something that you keep with you forever? Regardless, your father," he pointed at Aerith. "your mother," he pointed at Sephiroth. "myself and Jecht shall all have to go back to him. Perhaps because this universe was done by our creating it will not be affected by his own dream patterns."

"But can this universe survive without your influence?" Sephiroth interjected.

"He's a sharp boy," Xande said looking at Jenova.

"Boy?" Sephiroth asked, raising an eyebrow sounding a bit perturbed.

"You're a boy to me, don't take offense to it, son!" Xande said slapping Sephiroth heartily on the back. Aerith gasped audibly, Kuja laughed at the look on Sephiroth's face, and Jenova gave her son a very stern look that said: keep your temper.

"What about your own son?" Sephiroth asked through his teeth.

"My son? Axis?" Xande asked.

"Ax_el_, yes." Sephiroth answered.

"What about him? I suppose he's getting along fine, last I saw of him he was toddling in his mother's home in the main city of Kingdom Hearts."

"Xande, my friend, do you know how long it has been since Axel toddled?" Jenova asked smiling.

"Not too long ago actually," Aerith chuckled. "But that was my fault."

"Surely it hasn't been that long?" Xande asked smiling a bit less. "What millennia is this?"

"It is the 21st Century my friend." Kuja answered a bit more solemnly.

"The twenty-first—!" Xande was flabbergasted to say the least. "Hm, he's probably a bit more that a child now then huh? A teenager I suppose? Still just a boy really."

"Everyone is just a boy or just a girl to us…" Jenova said laughing.

"He's grown into a fine man." Aerith said.

"Oh? Perhaps he is pursuing you? Who are you my dear?"

"She is my daughter." Kuja answered. "But that is not the topic at hand,"

"_You're _daughter? Jenova, you two…?" Xande asked accusingly.

"We?" Jenova asked looking at Kuja. Damn her nearly see through fair skin. "No…no we never…the Bring—Kuja and I never…just no." She said so red in the face that the light around her tinged a slight violet.

"I really would have thought you guys would have had a liter of—"

"Anyway; how about finding Jecht? Then we'll fill you both in on what's going on." Kuja interjected and with that they all headed out of the cave.

* * *

Alright. Sora Vertolini and Pence Okole were in a state of shock, no what was more intense than shock? Perhaps a state of unyielding disbelief? Whatever you chose they were there, hell they were past the point of no return. They sat huddled in the corner while Roxas, Riku, Cloud, and Axel deliberated over something they were too afraid to even ask about.

"But he still doesn't remember yet!" Roxas said vehemently. "I will not leave him."

"Rocks! Come on!" Axel persuaded hopelessly.

"No Axel! I realize that it must be important if they went to find your dad, but I can't leave Sora. If it were me would you leave me alone?"

Axel gave Roxas a hard look, as if he could not believe that he would even be asked to choose. "Of course not." Axel said indignantly. "And Sora is one of my best friends, I don't want to leave him either, but you and I might be needed else where."

"Take me Axel." Cloud volunteered, he had been silent since he'd announced that he may have known what was wrong with Sora, well, more silent than usual.

"Are you sure Cloud?" Roxas asked looking at his brother with wide eyes.

"Sora will be fine, there is still a rather thick level of subconscious magic protecting him, and he's got Riku here now, he couldn't be safer. Roxas I know it has been hardest on you, so I won't ask you to come, but if I return and come calling for you, I expect you to go. There is nothing we can do for him until I talk to mother; I think she could help with this."

"Let's go now, I'm sure poor Piglet is doing his best to run things while Lady Aerith isn't in the castle, but he could hardly manage to write a note let alone do anything productive." Axel said chuckling a bit.

"Tell Rabbit to help him if need be, they seem to be close friends." Riku said his eyes sweeping over Axel and Cloud and moving over to Sora. They locked with those lovely chocolate brown irises and Riku fell in love all over again. Had it been nearly half a century since he'd seen this boy? God it felt like only yesterday that he had held him in his arms.

"Yo Pence! You coming to help me with this homework or…" Hayner looked down at his feet, a small mouse scurried across his boots. "Damn Sora you need to clean—"

"Another human." Riku pointed out.

"They're everywhere." Cloud answered.

"Should I take care of him?" Roxas asked helpfully.

"Take care of me? Pipsqueak you got something to say?" Hayner stormed into the room, finger poised at Roxas accusingly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Riku intervened grabbing Hayner by the shoulders and sending a rush of calm shooting down him. "That is something you _really _don't want to do."

"What if I do?" Hayner, the pinnacle of testosterone, said even with the calming spell taking effect.

"Wow you're a bundle of energy." Riku commented. "Look, just, uh, just go hang out over there with Sora and that one kid okay?"

"Not till you tell me just what the hell is—" But he stopped, he was feeling so serene it was almost making him drowsy.

"He's not going down." Roxas laughed.

"Just give me a minute, it takes a delicate touch." Riku assured. Finally Hayner's face became impossibly blank. "There we go." Hayner walked over to Pence and sat beside him without a word.

"Have a little trouble?" Roxas asked, smiling.

"I didn't want to break him." Riku said smiling back at him. "Everyone is different, obviously I can't use the same kind of influence on each human I come across."

"Are you ready?" Cloud asked looking at Axel, but the man was staring at Roxas. He hadn't seen him in two days, and Cloud hadn't seen Tifa in—no, no he wasn't going to think about her. "Just stay." Cloud finally said disappearing so elegantly that no one but Axel had noticed him depart.

"So," Axel finally said after staring at where the blond had been contemplating what went through that unnecessarily stoic mind of his. "You realize these guys are probably freaking out right?"

Riku looked at Roxas, and Roxas looked at Riku. "Damn it!" They both shouted at the same time.

"Ah I'm sure they're fine." Axel said confidently. "Yo, blondie, come'ere." He called to Hayner, but the kid didn't stand up. "Riku, maybe you overdid it a little?"

"It'll wear off soon." Riku said, sounding not as confident about it as he looked.

"Whatever, that's not cool man. Uh, you, kid with the bandana, come'ere." Pence stood up, more afraid then influenced by any sort of power, and walked over to Axel. "Now, what's your name kid?"

"Pence…sir?" The poor brunet tried, causing Roxas to burst out laughing. Axel gave him a look that was probably meant to quiet him but it only caused him to laugh harder.

"No, the name's Axel, not sir, got it memorized?" Pence shook his head yes. "Now look, we're not here to hurt anyone,"

"Actually Sora turned some guy into a rat…" Roxas said rather nonchalantly.

"Mouse." Riku pointed out. "Rats are outside."

"Look, before you two start can someone find that person and turn them back into whoever they were? I don't need Aerith influencing me too much anymore and if that woman knows how to do anything its spot when I'm not telling her something."

"I'll take care of him." Riku said spying the brown mouse scampering in the corner afraid for his life but not comprehending much more than the fact that he could smell crumbs somewhere on the floor.

"_I'll _do it, Riku will end up killing the kid,"

"Oh, because keeping things alive is your specialty." Riku snapped back.

"You're just mad because he was fucking Sora and you hadn't even gotten past second base—!" Axel clasped a hand over Roxas' mouth, kissed his forehead, and then apologized to Riku thoroughly.

"Ugh, damn, I'll do it." Axel said floating the little mouse in the air, with a wave of his hand the thing transformed back into the nude form of Chase Günter, looking absolutely disheveled. "Like I said, we don't want to hurt anyone, we just want some answers."

"Answers?" Pence asked. "You guys come in here doing all this amazing crap and you want us to give you answers!?" He was scared, it was evident, he was ranting as well. "How about you give me some answers? Like just who the hell are you people? How can you do all the shit you're doing? Why are you harassing Sora?"

"Whoa, whoa there Pudgy," Axel said laughing a bit.

"Its Pence actually." The boy corrected matter-of-factly.

"We're not harassing Sora, we're here to collect him." The red haired man continued. "He needs to come home ASAP, at first it was just cause his mom was missing him, but now there's a whole big controversy with his boyfriend's brother and talk about a war."

"My mother sent you?" Sora asked, standing up and speaking for the first time since he'd regained consciousness his eyes had gone blank, he hadn't' heard from her since she been taken to jail for her habit, she dint' call, and the institution never gave her his messages. Did she really send these guys?

"Yeah," Roxas said smiling at his older brother. "She's been so worried about you Sora, we all have! Especially him." Roxas pointed at Riku, who was still just staring at Sora. "I mean I'd say I missed you more, but I'm not incestuous." Again Riku said nothing.

"Well come on Sora, don't you want to go see your mom?" Axel asked, smiling at the boy like it was something he didn't even need to think about it.

"Axel, he's in human form, no human has ever been in—" Roxas tried.

"I know babe, but just because there's never been one doesn't mean we can't take one in, its never been tried."

"But—"

"Shut up!" Sora shouted causing everyone, even the out-of-sorts Chase glanced his way. "Can you really take me to my mom?" Sora asked, everything he thought he knew about Roxas and Riku and Cloud were weighing heavy in his mind, how did he meet them again? _They've always been around._ A voice nagged in the back of his head. But he didn't remember them living anywhere around him. _They lived off the island and visited often. _The voice spoke again, it was a voice of silk and whenever Sora heard it he could see a scythe of sorts, but as soon as he saw it it disappeared.

"Yeah we can." Axel assured so confidently that Sora couldn't question him any further.

"Then I want to go." He said resolutely.

"That's all I need to hear." Axel said and in a moment everyone in the room was gone in a puff of black smoke that smelled strangely like a struck match.

* * *

"Zeus-y you have to listen to me!" Hades tried standing from the Golden Gates to an entirely different home to an entirely different set of gods who created the universe around them in an entirely different way.

"Hades for the last time I won't be helping you anytime soon." Zeus said smiling, his perfectly combed beard and white hair flowing in the wind, his lovely wife Hera standing there smiling sickly sweet as well at her brother, brother-in-law. "Especially not after what you tried to do to poor Hercules."

"That's all in the past!" The flaming blue man tried. "Eons ago, am I right?"

"You know your position is still open here, dear brother, Hermes can't usher the dead in and run messages for us, he's tuckered out. We don't do things like those silly gods, replacing everyone when someone more powerful comes along." Hera said.

"Say, Hera, snook-ums, baby, sis, if I came back would you do this one thing for me? If anyone can get this big palooka moving its you, am I right?"

"My husband's word is final, Hades, you know that as well as I." Hera said plucking Aphrodite's mirror from her as she passed, probably on her way to see Hephaestus. "Don't mind me dear, you look perfect as always." Hera assured before the Goddess could start. "Some of us need to prim, but not you." She sated. With that Aphrodite skipped off merrily.

"Look, I can't go back there with nothing Zeus, Maleficent will have my head! Egh, you don't want to get on her bad side, though I'd like to get her on a couple of sides…"

"Hades! I'm surprised at you! What would Penelope think?"

"She's still at her mother's." Hades sulked.

"That justifies you lusting after another woman?" Hera asked, tsking him, and looking at her own husband. "I would be mortified."

"Sweetie, don't get started on that, I said I was sorry."

"I'm over that, my king," Hera said. "For _all _the little demigods that hold your blood in their veins."

"Look, I'll be on my way," Hades said defeated knowing better than to ask Zeus more than twice. "But don't say I didn't tell you so." And like that he was gone.

"He's such a peculiar character." Hera said chuckling softly.

"He is _your _brother after all." Zeus joked.

"Might I remind you he is your brother as well?" Hera asked smiling lightly.

"Touché my love." The King of Gods said walking further into Mount Olympus hand in hand with his wife.

* * *

Finding Jecht was relatively easy. He was where he always was. On the edge of nowhere. Well that might seem a bit vague. Let me elaborate. You see when you're somewhere you're between here and there, but when you're not really anywhere at all you tend to find yourself on the edge of nowhere. Get it now? Well you really don't have to, considering you're probably not a god, and if you are you're probably not one of the founding gods.

The man looked like he always did, dark brown hair a mess and held closely matted to his head by a red bandana, spiked shoulder protector, a tattoo representing a son he didn't want to ever forget drawn across his entire torso, the likes of which was muscled beyond belief, a sash of red that eventually became a gradient of gold at the end, black shorts and of course no shoes.

Jecht was the least likely of the four founding gods to forget, simply because he was earth, he could not forget, unlike the sea that was forever changing, and the wind that could not stand still, or fire that would grow too much and fizzle away. No, Jecht was still strong as strong as he'd ever been. But he was scarred not only across his body, but emotionally as well.

You see everyone has a sad story. Everyone, everything, anything with a soul or a heart. Jecht was no different, but unlike everyone else he could care one way or the other if you knew his. Let's just say that he lost everything and leave it at that.

"Don't you people ever knock?" He didn't look up, nor did he put down his bottle of the god's finest liquor simply called: Elixir.

"Knock on what old friend?" Kuja asked finding that in nothingness he had a bit more of a solid form.

"My conscious at least." Jecht said, taking another swig.

"Look we don't have much time—"

"Time? That's all we've got is time. Goddamned time." It should be noted that no matter how deeply he drank the bottle never left its filled marker. "So pop a squat and tell me what's made all you heathens gather together like this, old Bahamut finally stop snoozing?"

"No that's not it." Jenova began.

"Then leave me to grieve." The man said, still not moving except to take his medicine, still not turned around, sitting there idly the same way he had been for the last two thousand years.

"Grieve? It wasn't your fault." Kuja coaxed, walking forward and placing his liquid hand atop Jecht's unclothed shoulder.

"He wasn't ready." Jecht said looking away from Kuja's arrogant, yet at this moment, caring face. "And damn it that woman had just died, I shouldn't have pushed him, he didn't have the skill. 'Cry, cry, cry, that's all you're good for!' that's what I said to him."

"You didn't know he didn't have the power." Kuja said remembering it all suddenly like it had just happened. That poor boy who had looked so much like his beautiful mother, eaten away by the power Jecht had shoved into his body forcefully. It had the right affects for a moment, and then in one blinding light, he was gone.

"How weak am I that my only kid is human?" Jecht asked, quite drunk.

"He wasn't human." Jenova said floating over to them, the rest of the group followed suit. "He could not have been, you're much to strong, his power was probably latent, and those exercise coerced too much out of him at once."

This didn't seem to help as the grieving man took another heavy swallow. "Well, you sons of bitches aren't here to help an old man remember. What's the problem?"

Aerith and Sephiroth explained the events and goings on to both Xande and Jecht, they illustrated the importance of not underestimating the minor gods if it came down to war.

"I'm sorry." Jecht said. "But I'm staying here. What if he shows up when I'm not here? He'll think I left him alone." He had the notion that since gods couldn't die Tidus, his son, would show up at the edge of nothing eventually, he just had to. Right? Eventually?

"Jecht we need you." Xande said in his most persuasive voice, its melodic elements made the heart quiver, he was a magician of words at times.

"What do you know, you old fool, you have a son and you tune him out." The comment cut Xande deeply, but he knew it was the alcohol talking.

"Aye." Xande said mournfully. "But I plan to remedy that."

"It must be nice," Jecht said sourly. "To be able to talk to your child whenever you feel like you've wronged them."

"We will set up an envoy here, my friend, how does that sound? At the first sight of Tidus we shall let you leave the battlefield to see him." The look of consternation that was now sketched across the ancient man's face could have leagues of books written about it.

"I get to bring my booze?" Jecht asked, staring at them all for approval.

"If that's what it takes my friend." Kuja laughed lightly.

"Then," He hiccupped drunkenly. "sign me up."

* * *

**Author's Notes**: Now I know its been a while since I wrote any ANs down here, but I wanted to clear this up. Obviously Jecht is from Final Fantasy 8 so is Tidus, Jenova and Sephiroth are from FF7, Kuja is from FF9 and Xande is from FF3. I've never played nine or three so I know I'm not doing the best on their personalities, but this is definitely not a canon story. I'm doing my best to keep them IC but I'm taking suggestions, creative ones.

I also realize that there are a lot of chronological errors throughout the story…sorry about that, I have a hard time keeping up with the number of years since it happened so long ago, if I mess up on that you'll have to remember I'm human and make lots of mistakes. I won't blame not having a Beta cause I don't really care to have one.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the ride thus far! Don't worry, I don't plan on wrapping up for quite a few chapters.


	10. Chapter 10

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes:** Not much to say. More **ANs** at the bottom.

**Chapter Ten: **Strings and Frets

It was like a swirling, rushing, whooshing sensation, as if he were going up a drain in a strong current. But due to all the smoke he could barely breathe or see, but he could hear, Hayner was cussing like a sailor, Pence was screaming, and Chase was coming to from some Sora didn't quite remember putting him through.

As soon as the disorientation began it was over thankfully, but it didn't mean it didn't leave Sora's head swimming. It took a bit before he could stand up properly, and even more of an arm from Riku before he could balance.

The room they were in couldn't have been real. The ornate decorations were more precious than gold, rubies, emeralds, pearls, diamond, and silver combined. There was an immaculate throne to the left of the room and three other chairs on either side of it, all three of them bejeweled just as wonderfully as the rest of the room, but not so much as the throne itself. The chair to the right of the throne was taller than all the others, and the two to the left of it were smaller by comparison.

The floor was a black marble that cast perfect reflections of anyone who glanced in it, almost as if to please the viewer's eye. Columns rose all around, and the room itself just couldn't have any rivals.

"Its beautiful." Sora marveled.

"Eh, you should see Grandmother's throne room." Riku commented offhandedly.

"Where the hell are we?" Hayner asked looking around and disrespecting the beauty of the room with his words, which shifted and from that point on didn't like him very much.

"We're in the throne room of course." Roxas said simply. "Where's mom?"

"She went with them to find my pops." Axel said without a hint of emotion on his face.

"And where is my mother?" Sora asked looking around for a second time to make sure he hadn't missed the woman, she'd be hard to miss though, she was stick skinny from certain things she would never tell anyone she did, her hair was cropped short to her head, and her eyes were sunken in. Yeah, she'd be hard to miss.

"Why do I feel the need to eat cheese?" Chase's groggy voice sounded terribly squeaky. Before anyone could answer for him though the doors burst open. In the doorway stood four of the once most powerful beings in history, now centuries and some eons old, no longer the pinnacles of strength, but still powerful nonetheless. Sora and his group took them in from the tallest who had skin of the darkest night sky but hair of the purest snow, to the shortest. It was the woman from Sora's dream, still as beautiful as she had been, just a bit more teary eyed.

"Sora?" She asked running forward, she'd thrown caution to the wind, her powers began fluctuating quite rapidly.

"Lady Aerith!" Axel jumped in front of her son and he caught the full force of her power, again. "Damn…it." He choked as he fell to the ground.

"What is the meaning of this Axel?" Aerith asked.

"Sora is still human, mother." Roxas explained.

"Then," She looked at the very confused Sora. "I could have just killed him?" A very real kind of hurt washed over her face taking the smile she had just held. "Oh Sora, I'm so sorry." She walked over to him, putting a hand to his face and finally embracing him. "My baby, I am so very, very sorry." She said almost in tears.

"Uhm…its okay…miss." Sora said, his voice muffled against Aerith's body. She smelled like chocolate chip cookies and summer mornings, she smelled like fresh brownies and blooming flowers, it continued to change in his mind. He could feel his mother's arms around him when this woman hugged him, almost as if she were the embodiment of childhood itself.

"Miss?" She questioned not skipping a beat.

"Axel my boy, stand up and give your old man a hug." Xande said standing over his son.

"Daddy?" Axel asked smiling now from ear to ear. Axel jumped up and put his arms around his father's neck and his legs around his waist, hugging him closely. "Oh daddy I knew you'd come back!"

"Aerith what in the name of Bahamut have you done to my son?" Xande's booming voice nearly shouted.

"Perhaps you should give her a moment, this is important." Kuja wisely suggested.

"But—"

"No buts," Jenova laughed patting Axel's head. "What will Roxas do with you like this?"

"Well I hear kids like candy." Roxas said prompting Axel from his father's arms with a sweet that materialized in his hand. "I'm sorry for this Mr…fire god."

"Xande will do fine boy." The man said sizing Roxas up. "You're quite the runt for a death god,"

"Runt?!" Roxas said handing Axel the candy. "I'll have you know—"

"But I suppose I approve of you for my son, you are a bit too feminine to be a boy anyway."

"What?!" Roxas exploded, but his mother grabbed his arm.

"You brought him back without memories." The look in her eyes made Roxas' anger dissipate rather quickly.

"We don't know how to unlock them; Cloud said he was coming to get you to tell you he's figured something out, I thought he would be here as well."

* * *

Dust blew over the night black fields of far off, Cloud was a beacon of light in this place, he had the blood of Aerith in his veins and it showed rather brightly. He dodged the double bladed sword as skillfully as a cat.

The man clad in leather was smiling, his silver hair shining with Jenova's light as well, his eyes a bright, eerie green.

There was no time for words, only for swords. The pure muscle behind each blow led to sparks flying off. Cloud blocked an attack, spun and took out a row of Heartless that were creeping up on him surreptitiously.

His blue eyes burned brightly in the dark, like a crisp December morning without a cloud in the sky. In them he held concentration and endurance. Cloud had destroyed more than a thousand of Heartless of all shapes and sizes, but there were still so many more to go, the strange hills were filling up with them and the bizarre valleys were full of them.

Their dead yellow eyes begging Cloud to kill them but their sharp shadowy claws spoke of a defense.

"Where are you going, brother?" Kadaj asked, jumping over a Neoshadow and slamming his weapon down.

"You can't kill me Kadaj," Cloud said. "You and I both know that."

"But I can make you beg for death." Kadaj supplied; impaling the blond man with his sword.

Cloud fell to his knees ripping the sword from his side, pain shot up his body, nearly crippling him.

"My sword holds no name," Kadaj said picking up the bloodied blade. "But when I forged it I made sure it could injure the Divine beyond measure."

A black beam shot forward from Cloud's hand, it hit Kadaj and knocked him into the air. The blast was as cold as ice, but he knew better than to think it water. Air compressed so tightly that it could blow a hole through a lesser being. Kadaj smiled at his "brother's" resourcefulness.

The fallen blond stood and shouldered his sword. He walked forward all four winds of the world swirling about him, the North, The South, The East, and the West. How Jenova had complimented him on being able to control them when his power manifested. He studied under her for three centuries afterwards, but he was sure there were something things she did not teach him he was still a master at wielding them.

He shot another jettison of air at Kadaj but this time the attack merely died down, thus proving that now Kadaj was also using his power. Something the man seldom did. With each use he felt his conscious waking more and more, he did not want his father's view of the world, he did not want everything to be so black and white that he could not fight for what he believed in.

Chaos is a very powerful thing. It can make the good evil and it can turn the day to night when the sun is supposed to shine, he's made the sky rain lava, made birds swim and fish fly. But what was worst of all is that he had some control over the power of the other gods, if Cloud did not fight his hardest Kadaj could turn his strengths into a weakness.

* * *

Marluxia and Saix, Reality and Time, were conversing. Which was strange because usually the two of them stayed far away from each other.

"It keeps changing." The pink haired man said somberly.

"And I can feel Him less and less, in the near future they would all realize he is slowly waking."

"He has yet to make up His mind as well," Marluxia said almost despondent. "I can't keep this world together and worry about losing it at the same time."

"Our young wards are having trouble watching Him," Saix mused. "They're afraid of what He'll do in His waking." Ifirit and Shiva both shivered in their other dimensions as they're names were said.

"Maybe he'll let us live." Leaning on his scythe and smoking a cigarette. Such a foul habit he picked up on earth.

"Why do you care?" Saix asked smiling hopelessly, it was deranged with specks of fear. "Its not like any of this is real anyway."

* * *

"Where is Sora?" Leon asked Kairi. "For that matter why is his apartment a wreck? Where have he and Pence and Hayner and Chase Günter gone?"

"Mr. Leonhart I wish I knew!" Kairi said standing in the rain, her red hair matted to her face . Squall kicked over a metal trash bin causing a few policemen to look up. One motioned to come over towards him but he waved the man off.

"Damn it! I knew that kid was trouble, I knew that Chase kid was a bad seed from the start."

"You can't honestly think this was our boy." Mrs. Günter said.

"It's obviously that fucked up little cousin of yours," Mr. Günter agreed. "Dressing up in lady's garments and gallivanting around with my son; I want him found, and when he is I want him thrown in the nearest jail cell."

"You can't convict someone because you didn't know your son was a faggot!" Leon shouted, his eyes alight with fire.

"Now—now—now you take that back boy, ya hear?" Archibald nearly choked. "Twas your little cousin that done gone and spoiled my son, filled his head with lies!"

"He begged Sora to dress up like that," Kairi said in tears. "Begged him after he practically humiliated him in front of the whole school, and Sora, being the stupid and kind person he is said yes!"

"My son is not a fa—is not a homosexual!" Celia Günter exclaimed. "We raised him right, taught him better."

"What makes you think you can teach someone sexual preference?" Leon asked.

"The good Lord says that man shall not lay with—"

"No, don't you dare, don't you fucking dare to quote a Bible verse at me." The police were now in between them. "If your God created us, then surely he can love us how we are! Ever think about that? You're Bible is centuries old, written by man, translated by man, and not well might I remind you?"

"Now look-a-here you ain't going to talk about the Good Book like that y'hear?"

The truth was this argument was just something on the surface, neither party wanted to think about what was really happening, what could really have happened.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gunther—"

"Günter." Celia corrected. "It's German you know," Her eyes were wet with tears, anything to take away the reality of the situation. That didn't matter if it was correcting someone, reminding someone how rich and powerful they were, but all their money meant nothing if their boy was missing, or worse.

"Right, Mr. and Mrs. Günter we're going to need you to fill out a missing person's report. The same for you Mr. Lockhart."

Damn it, there was that name again. Again? Why did it feel like someone had called him that recently. He hadn't gone by it since his mother, Tifa Lockhart, had died. Something important was trying to leap into his memory, but he didn't' know what it was. Perhaps it was all the time he spent with Sora as a boy, or maybe it was fond Christmas memories of the two of them staying up late to see Santa, even after he found out the truth of Santa's existence.

He signed his name so many times he wasn't sure if he had been using Leonhart or Lockhart, told all he knew and heard Kairi do the same so many times that he could say both parts verbatim.

"Damn it Sora when I find you I'm going to kick your ass." But his furrowed brows and angry scowls could not hide the tears in his eyes or the pain in his chest.

* * *

"I hate that it had to be this way." Marluxia said still leaning on his scythe. "Hate not being able to just tell them."

"They're not ready to know," Saix said. "It is our job to determine how everything play out, our job to sort out the messes they make and come up with the paths they take. Not one of them is innocent in this, Sora, that poor sweet boy, his naivety is just as much to blame as Kadaj's greed and lust. The decision they make will do just this."

"But they didn't know His time was coming." Marluxia reasoned.

"They don't know a lot of things, even the founding gods wish they could see what we see."

"Yes," The pink haired man reasoned. "But they would go mad with it all, everyone's thoughts, dreams, aspirations all passing through our heads at a moments notice, the free will to do what we want, but the common sense to keep order. Kadaj knows nothing of real chaos."

"You know nothing of chaos!" Kadaj shouted, his blade warping through the air and stabbing Cloud in the back.

"I know I can defeat you!" Cloud had lost count of how many times the blade had hit him, or how many of the little black creatures he had killed. He only really knew that when they moved he would kill groves of them with his wind while trying to defend himself against Kadaj's attacks.

"That's quite the speculation." Kadaj laughed maniacally.

* * *

"Let me get this straight." Sora said calmly. "You're trying to tell me that I'm the God of Love? And that me and this guy and that blond guy are brothers, and that you," he pointed at Aerith, "are our mother?" He laughed. "Oh yes, why didn't I see that before? How old are you? Twenty? Twenty-one? I'm seventeen lady, my mom is in her late thirties, and you damn sure don't look like her."

"Sora!" Aerith remarked.

"He's just freaked out mom." Roxas said. "I mean this is a whole new world to him, for all he knows it could be another dream."

"Can I pinch him?" Axel asked innocently.

"No baby." Roxas said kissing him on the cheek and laughing. "He should know he isn't asleep though." Sora's twin looked at the humans. "None of you are. This is all very real." Roxas walked forward and helped Pence up from the floor. "I told Cloud I could control my powers," He said smiling. "We haven't been properly introduced, the name's Roxas and I'm the current God of Death."

"The current?" Pence asked.

"Yeah, soon someone new will come along and take my place if I get weak, or if he's stronger than me, but I won't let whoever comes take my throne easily. And even if he does I have a ton of other powers, so I'm not too worried about it."

"Well I'm Pence Okole, and this is my boyfriend Hayner Wallace." Pence said shaking Roxas' hand awkwardly.

"Boyfriend huh?" Roxas asked sizing the guy up. "Well, he's cute, but he just doesn't seem like the sharpest tool in the tool shed."

"Huh?" Hayner asked zoning back in.

"We were talking about shopping." Pence said nonchalantly, and as quickly as he came in he was out again. "Sora," The raven haired young man said looking at his best friend. "How are you taking this, I mean, I'm not sure I believe it either, but it explains a lot of what they've done, how else do you think we got here?"

"This woman isn't my mother." Sora said stepping back, tripping over Chase who was still sitting on the floor.

"Oh hey Sora! Ugh, I feel horrible, and I have the weirdest need to apologize for something. Sorry, for whatever I did."

Riku helped Sora back up, and sent some calm down his body, sorting out his thoughts for him as he did so.

"Sora, you _are _my son." Aerith said. "Look at me, and I know you'll know its true."

"I am looking." Sora said disdainfully. "I was brought here because I thought I was meeting Tia-Marie Vertolini, my mother. God, I'm such an idiot." But Riku's calm was interfering making it difficult to really be angry or sad.

"He thinks he's telling the truth." Riku said still holding onto the boy's arm. "There was a Tia-Marie Vertolini that raised him from before he can remember," He divined from Sora's mind. "She—she was taken into custody by the police for narcotics and hasn't been in contact with Sora since he was eight—"

Sora ripped his arm from Riku's hand. "Get out of my head!" He shouted.

"She's sent him one letter," Riku continued getting into Sora's face. "And all it said was 'Be home soon. Love mom.' He's held onto it ever since, in a box, on his dresser, next to his bed."

Sora punched Riku in the face, the silver haired boy didn't so much as blink, but Sora's hand throbbed in broken pain, he was too angry to notice it though. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He shouted, punching him again with the other hand square in the nose with a strength he'd never known, but Riku didn't feel a thing. "Those are my private thoughts, I don't care who the hell you are, you have no right to talk about my mother! No right!"

"She's not your mother," Riku said grabbing Sora's broken fists and mending them. "She's not your biological mother, nor is she much of a physical one either. She wasn't there for you when you needed it most."

"Why don't you look a little closer?" Sora asked, pain and anger flashing in succession across his face one after the other and back again. "Why don't you look to before she got messed up huh?"

He did. Sora didn't feel him do it, but he did. He saw Sora and felt the emotions he had been feeling at the time of certain memories. He felt how happy Sora was on one stormy night when lightning was flashing all over the island and he was scared, but Tia let him sleep in her bed, the woman rocked him to sleep that night and sang him an Italian lullaby.

Then he saw another memory, it was probably the day before Christmas considering the decorations all over the mediocre New York suite.

"Sora," Tia said in her melodic voice, they were stirring cookies together.

"Yes mommy?" The smaller version of Sora asked.

"You've got some flour on your face." Tia commented.

"Where?" Sora questioned crossing his eyes to see it.

"Right here!" The beautiful woman said wiping a smudge of flour on his nose.

"You do too!" Sora said, he couldn't have been any older than six. Gathering some flour in his hand he blew it in her face, making her hair completely white.

"Oh!" She laughed. "You little booger muncher its on now!" She said laughing and dumping a handful of flour on him. The two of them went around the kitchen flinging the powder at one another till there wasn't any left. Sora ran into his mother's arms afterwards and she hugged him tightly to her chest.

They sat on the kitchen floor in silence for a little while, huddled against the edge of the stove for warmth.

"Hey, you know Santa might not be able to bring you everything on your list this year baby." Tia-Maria told her son looking down at him. "Silly me I tried to get him to make you that pair of skates you wanted and he said he'd have to think about it. I might have made him angry." She smiled a smile only mothers who feel like they've disappointed their children can.

In truth she had to pay the rent, and the bills, and the car note, and her college loans.

"Silly mommy," Sora said kissing her flour covered cheek. "Santa doesn't get mad." He smiled brightly, Tia-Marie chocked back tears at the look of joy on her son's face. "But that's okay, this year when I sent my list in from school I asked Santa for a special present."

_Not this year. Any other year. _Tia thought to herself, and Riku was standing in the kitchen hearing their thoughts. "What—what'd you ask him for baby?"

"I asked him to make my mommy happy, because she's the bet mommy in the world." Sora said playing with his hair that she insisted was pulled back in a pony tail if he wouldn't let her cut it. "Why are you crying mommy?" Sora asked.

"Because," Tia said smiling through her tears. "I think next year Santa will get you something extra special since you wasted your list on me. I couldn't be anymore happy since I have you."

Riku was transported to another memory.

"Look Tifa, I—I can't do it, I owe him so much money." Tia-Marie said to her sister. She was looking rather thin, her eyes were sunken in and she was scratching her arms frantically.

"I don't have that kind of cash," Tifa said. "Maybe you should take a loan out, baby. I have to take care of Leon," When Tia started to cry Tifa wasn't sure if it was because she'd said her son's name, or if it was because of her debt she had to pay to her drug dealer.

"Don't say that name." Tia said shaking, they didn't know Sora was behind the doorway.

"He's been gone for four years Tia." Tifa said. "He was my brother, he was around for me when my father wasn't, I had to let someone carry his name on."

"Just don't say it," The crying woman said again. Tifa sighed.

"Alright, well you know I have to take care of my son too, his deadbeat dad isn't sending anything in anymore, hell this trip cost us an arm and a leg, but we had to make sure you two were okay."

"I didn't ask you to come up here you know!" Tia nearly shouted standing up. "It was just a car crash, we're fine."

"The police say you were under the influence." Tifa reminded here. "Damn it Tee, you can't keep doing this, what kind of example are you setting for you little boy?"

"Sora," A young Leon whispered, grabbing Sora by the hand. "You're not supposed to be listening to this, come on, I brought my Gameboy up you wanna play it before we go to bed?"

Sora nodded and followed behind his cousin.

Riku stepped after them, but was transported to one last memory.

"Mommy!" Sora yelled from the back seat of Tifa's car. The men in blue were handcuffing her and putting her into a car.

"It's alright baby!" She yelled back. "Squall! Promise me you'll look after him!" She shouted, trying to keep herself out of the squad car.

"I promise Aunt Tee!" Leon shouted, his voice shaking with sadness. He was old enough to understand what was going on.

"No! No! Let me out!" Sora screamed ripping his seatbelt off and darting from the car. He bolted to the police car and banged on the window. "Mommy, don't' go! Mommy don't leave me like daddy did!" Tears were falling from his big beautiful blue eyes and Tia-Marie was bawling her own out.

"Leon, get your cousin." Tifa said in a low voice.

"Yes—yes ma'am." He said walking slowly over to the boy and picking him up. Little Sora was screaming so loudly his voice was cutting out, the tears were soaking through Leon's shirt.

And he didn't stop crying or screaming till well after he fell asleep from pure exhaustion. They went to the airport and bored the flight to Florida where Tifa had moved when she first got married.

The boy slept the entire way there, he slept in the car to the house, and even slept the entire night after. When he woke up his eyes were dry, but he still looked like he wanted to cry something fierce.

"We'll get through this." Tifa told him, but the police had told her otherwise, cocaine, prostitution and attempted manslaughter. Tia-Marie Vertolini was getting a life sentence and her sister-in-law knew it.

God, the raven haired beauty was getting too old for this. She had a son all her own, she wasn't feeling well herself, she'd been having chest pains, and her hair had been getting thin much to her own horror. It probably came with her lack of food, but she just wasn't hungry anymore.

"I hope she comes back soon." Sora said. "I'm still waiting on Daddy to come back, she said he would too, and now she's gone and it's all my fault."

"No, no, Sora, sweetie." Tifa coughed. "It isn't your fault, sometimes adults don't get along and have to have some time apart."

"But every night I prayed to God that we would be a family again." Sora said, his eyes just not able to produce anymore tears. He was probably dehydrated, Tifa would have to get him some water soon. "I prayed so hard, and I was being selfish, and it's a sin to be selfish. God is punishing me because I was bad."

Tifa hugged the boy close to her chest. "That's so far from the truth baby." She told him. "God isn't punishing you, heck, I met a God a long time ago." She said to him, her eyes crinkling with small wrinkles that would never get the chance to spread.

"You did?" Sora asked, sitting up.

"Yeah, he was a great guy, we were in love you know?"

"Really?" His mind was slightly off of his current thought pattern.

"Really. But you know I was getting older, I died actually, but when he left it saved me. We couldn't be together, his presence was slowly choking me to a very long sleep, so to him I was dead, or as dead as I could be. He left and promised to find a way we could be together, but the gods are famous for forgetting."

"Wow." Sora said. "Do—do you think he can bring Mommy back to me? And Daddy too?"

Tifa laughed bitterly. "He kiddo, if I ever see him again I'll make sure he does." She said kissing his cheek. "Now come on, you sound like you need a good drink of water."

Two years later, around Leon's eighteen birthday, Tifa died of a virulent respiratory infection, luckily the virus wasn't contagious, but it acted so quickly in her body that she was beyond medical help.

Riku returned to them and he felt something deep inside of himself, a human emotion that he knew all too well.

"What did you see?" Aerith asked him, but instead of saying it aloud like he did before he showed it to her. The woman looked at her son and could feel his sadness.

"Don't look at me like you know me." Sora said darkly.

"But let me show you something as well." Aerith said, and sent some of his own older memories flowing into him.

* * *

Cloud as in a nearly unbearable amount of pain. He couldn't take much more abuse without passing out.

"You know, brother," Kadaj said smiling. "Being here really isn't the smartest idea for you, you see this is the place where your kind go to die, the place where you gods who think that our time is short lived, and that we are not completely immortal go when they feel death is at hand."

"What do you mean?" Cloud asking, leaning against a rock.

"This dark dimension of Kingdom Hearts generally drains all hopeful energy from you, it takes away every last drop of light you have." Kadaj said. "Luckily for me my light isn't so much hopeful as it is vengeful."

"Coward." Cloud said weakly.

"I can't kill you, brother, but in the place where the gods give themselves over to becoming Heartless, I will make you beg for your demise, then, when all the hope has left your sad little body you'll become one with Maleficent's armies." The silver haired man smiled. "And then I'll do the same with your little brothers, and probably your mother as well."

"Fucking prick!" Cloud shouted, he drove his sword home right into Kadaj's chest. The man was surprised, but smiled nonetheless.

"Hm, you got me." Kadaj said laughing. "Loz? Yazoo?"And the two others showed up at their beck and call.

"Yes brother?" Yazoo asked seeing Cloud with his sword through Kadaj's sternum. "Perhaps I can be of assistance." The brother with the longest hair said helpfully and pulled a long silver gun from its holster on his side, it cocked.

At that moment Cloud disappeared, not of his own accord, someone must have needed him.

"Cloud," Aerith said rushing over to him seeing his injuries. "Where have you been?"

"I'm fine." Cloud said standing up. "I destroyed quite a bit of Maleficent's rising army, but I don't know if it was any good, those little Heartless were everywhere."

"No time for that my boy." Kuja said walking forward.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked, sensing a familiar energy in him, one akin to his own.

"Me? I'm your grandfather." Kuja said smiling brightly, reminding everyone just where Sora got his from.

"Have you figured out how to return Sora to his original state?" Roxas asked, the whole grandfather thing had been explained to him while Sora was seeing bits of his old life, his life before earth. He passed out again, but he was laying comfortably upon a bed that Riku had conjured up for him.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Axel said poking his father. He'd been ecstatic about seeing the man in this state, but when Aerith's powers wore off no one knew how he'd take it.

"What is it my boy?" Xande asked after being shoved by Jecht.

"Nothing." Axel said giggling.

"Why don't you sit on Sora's bed and make sure he's okay?" Roxas asked Axel.

"You're my boyfriend!" Axel pointed out.

"Yes I am." Roxas chided happily.

"Uh-huh, and, um, we're going to be boyfriends forever right?" The red head asked.

"Longer than that if we can manage it," Roxas answered and sat with Axel between his legs, it was a bit awkward because of the whole height difference thing, but Roxas didn't mind.

"I think I know how to do it," Cloud said finally, after taking in all the beings in the room, seeing the humans looking at his middle brother, shaking his head and continuing.

"Well go on." Kuja prompted.

"If we bleed the human out of him then maybe we can restore his body to what it was. The problem is I'm not sure how to go about doing that,"

"'ey, I guess I can give you guys a hint or two." The very familiar voice of Hades said ominously.

"Hades." Roxas said disgusted.

"If its not my favorite little Death God." Hades said not able to appear before them because of the wards on the castle, no one but those of direct blood to Kuja were allowed to appear before them unless given special permission. Hence how Axel got in, and even more how he got in with company. "Look, okay, Maleficent is going to have me on a skewer if I go back to her empty handed, and well I want out. I'm not on the winning side anymore, and Zeus isn't such a bad guy, I mean he damns me to the live in the Underworld, and I don't have any say in what my brothers and sisters do, but hey, at least its better than being bossed around by some freaky green chick right?"

"Say what you need to say and leave Hades."

"Hey hey, no need to be so uptight right?" Hades asked. "Eh, tough crowd. Alright, so here's the deal, you may have heard of a kid not too long ago, swell guy, named Hercules, thwarted my attempts to take over Mount Olympus." He waited. "No? Come on, I mean I know you guys are a different pantheon but at least pretend to care."

No one seemed amused.

"Alright, well anywho, the kid was going to be trouble for me so I had two of my henchmen feed him a potion that would make him permanently human. Well apparently there isn't a way to make a kid who is a god permanently human, needless to say he saved his little girlfriend, sent me packing, and lived a hero's life." Hades continued. "So this time around when I got recruited for this little shindig they asked me to make the same thing, and I told them it wouldn't have the results they wanted, so instead we locked his power deep inside of him with a different potion."

"Where's the antidote?" Kuja asked not missing a beat.

"That's the thing, God I've never met before, there isn't one. The only way to get Sora his power back, would be to get his memory back, to he'd know who he was and believe with all his heart that he was the God of Love."

"Damn it." Cloud said still feeling his injuries. "Where are his memories?"

"Well, we couldn't destroy them, and believe me we tried, so uh, we just hid them in darkest part of Kingdom Hearts, in the middle of Maleficent's castle."

"Well we'll just have to go and get them." Roxas said simply.

"That's not possible." Cloud said standing. "We could only venture that far into her territory if we were as dark as she is,"

Kuja laughed. He laughed long, and he laughed hard, his chuckle reverberated powerfully off the walls and filled the entire throne room. "Is that all?" Kuja asked. "When I was in charge whoever was trying to usurp my power would have probably scattered to memories to different universes! By the beard of Bahamut, this generation is lazy."

"Hey I thought it was a good plan, but whatever. It's not my problem anymore." Hades said. "I'll be seeing ya." He thought about it. "Actually, I hope I don't." And then his voice just stopped.

"Alright Jecht, wanna go help me retrieve my grandson's memories? I'd do it myself but it's hard to hold things when you're liquid."

"Sure." Jecht smiled. "I suppose I need to stretch my legs anyway."

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Well, look like I got another story up in record time. Lol Don't expect it to happen too often. Anyway, I won't be able to update for a while, you know Thanksgiving and all that, so I'm posting this as soon as I get done. No time for error scanning. Anyway, review if you liked it.


	11. Chapter 11

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes:** You all have no idea how much your reviews me to me, like absolutely none. When I log into my Yahoo and see that my story has been reviewed it seriously makes my day go so much better. My three most frequent reviewers are: Mistress -Freak, TheDollPrincess, and Himitsu Shi. Thank you all, and even you not so frequent reviewers! You all make me smile.

**Chapter Eleven: **Octaves and Harmonies

Sora was in a fitful sleep because of his dream. No, not a dream; he was having a nightmare. In his nightmare he was confined in a cage that could fit the world's largest canary. There was almost nothing around him but darkness, except for about ten yards in front of him.

There was a giant scale, one gold bricks the size of SUVs could be weighed. On one side was his mother, Tia-Marie looking the same way she had when he'd last seen her. Little did Sora know that his earth mother was in a women's minimum security prison in Newark, doing well in rehab, in her mind time had stopped, she could still remember he little boy the same way he'd always been, in her mind he hadn't grown at all either.

On the other side was Aerith, pristine and elegant beyond all belief. Both of them were giving Sora the looks only a mother could know. A mother who had lost her child once before, but there was no way both of them could be looking at him like that.

"Mom." Sora cried out, but he wasn't sure to whom he was saying it, his heart was saying it was Tia but his mind was saying it was Aerith. The brunet boy who was having conflicting emotions about whether he was a god, about who his mother was, and about his whole life in general back up into the blackness.

A clawed hand wrapped around his shoulder causing Sora to jump in fright he spun quickly to see…himself? No, not himself. His skin was pitch black, and his eyes were the only facial features on the doppelganger. But they weren't even his eyes, they were a listless yellow. It was a carbon copy color coal.

"Who are you?" Sora yelled into the darkness, looking at the thing and backing up against the bars of the cage.

A voice echoed in his head, it had no tone, no dimension, but it spoke just the same. "I am you." The voice said, but the other Sora didn't so much as blink his dead yellow eyes. "Or, I am the you of the past. Your power, your true heart."

"What do you want with me?"

"To be part of you again." The voice whispered, ricocheting all across his mind. The clawed hand reached up and stroked Sora's cheek. "You have continued without me," It spoke as best it could. "Lived a whole new life without me inside of you, and yet I have done nothing but fester, how I long to feel the hearts of others, or to swim in the deepest depths of the oceans. But here I stand. I am Nobody."

"Nobody?" Sora asked, his voice shaking from all the emotions he felt.

"Yes. Without you I am not Sora, I am simply Nobody." The Anti-Sora said.

"Well Nobody, will you tell me something?" Sora asked, turning to look at the scale behind him, Nobody floated to him and hovered behind him, holding onto his shoulders.

"What is it?" He asked, his claws digging into Sora's flesh, but strangely it didn't hurt. The pressure actually felt pleasant.

"Do you know who my mother is?" Sora asked sounding helpless.

"You mean you don't?" Nobody replied. "Then perhaps without me you are Nobody as well." Sora smiled faintly and nodded, hoping that Nobody would continue. "The healthier one," He said pointing to Aerith. "The thin one I've never seen before, but the healthier one is the Lady Aerith, your true mother, she is a very loving woman who would not consciously harm a fly." Nobody smiled, or maybe it was a smile, without a mouth it was hard for Sora to tell. "Unless of course that fly threatened her family."

"I was afraid of that." Sora replied meekly. "But how is that possible? There are baby pictures, my Aunt Tifa recorded the video when I was born, not that I enjoy watching it, and that she always threatened to show it to my friends when we got to rowdy, but I was born to that woman," Sora pointed to Tia. "I know I was."

"Sora, my vessel, your naivety precedes you even today." Nobody laughed. "When I was ripped away from you almost a half century ago I couldn't see the ones who did it, but I saw them turn you into something small, so small that my eyes strained to see you. You were gone within the twinkling of an eye, and I was bound up so tightly that it felt like I would never right myself again."

"I don't understand." Sora told his other self truthfully.

"Nor do I, but you were somehow born anew in the human world without me. But I am just a Nobody."

"My grand—well, they tell me he is my grandfather, he is on his way to come get you, they want my memories back, they want all the gods they can get for the upcoming war." Sora made a pfft sound. "Pfft. I don't even know what this 'war' is about. I don't know anything anymore."

"Know one thing, my vessel." Nobody said digging deeper into Sora's shoulder.

"What is that?" He asked, trying to turn to see Nobody.

"You must wake up."

And with that he did. But he was in a different room now. It was a warm room, comfortably so, in both color and temperature. There was a small fire crackling in the corner and beside the hearth sat Axel, with Roxas in his lap. On the foot of the bed was Riku, and on the opposite wall was Pence huddled against a sleeping Hayner.

Chase had been filled in on everything, from who Sora was to his own infidelity. He was just outside of the room being tended to by Piglet.

"Where is…your grandfather?" Sora asked haltingly looking at Roxas.

"_Our _grandfather is on his way to invade Maleficent's castle." Roxas said. "And when he returns I hope you remember to thank him."

"Calm down Roxie." Axel laughed kissing the man, and thankful that his maturity had returned. "Why don't we leave them alone for now? When he gets his memory back you can tell him all about how you wept when he wasn't here…"

"Shut it Axel, or no sex for a millennium."

"You couldn't go that long without it," Axel said smiling.

"Who said I had to get it from you?" Roxas asked, returning a devious smile and then walking out of the room.

"What—Roxas get your scrawny ass back here!" And Axel stormed after him.

"Sora," Riku said placing his hand on the other's. "I know this is hard to take in."

"A part of me really wants to believe what your all are saying, probably because it's so amazing and unbelievable, and if something like this really happened in real life I wouldn't be lucky enough for it to happen to, I—I just don't know."

"What do you need to know?" Riku asked, he held onto Sora's face. "Don't know, just feel, let it flow through you and it should all come back to you." Before Sora could protest Riku gently pushed his lips against Sora's, and those sinful lips should have been outlawed throughout the entire universe.

* * *

Truthfully Kuja wasn't sure what all the complaining was about. He'd been in darker parts of the world with much more adverse effects, this was just a minor setback if anything. He knew his grandson was anything but weak, but he had been traveling through the blackness for the better part of a day and was not feeling anything.

"How are you holding up Jecht?" He threw over his shoulder.

"Hm?" Jecht asked. "Oh, um, I can manage." He said distractedly. "Not feeling anything out of the ordinary, your grandson is a pansy."

"You know," Kuja smiled. "I measured his strength, give him a couple hundred more years and he'll surpass me in my prime." Jecht shrugged and they kept walking in silence for a while. Till they finally came upon Maleficent's castle.

Now, it could have been because they were impossibly old, but Jecht and Kuja just weren't impressed with the immaculate building before them. It might have been because it was TOO big, that would cause a draft since it was made out of brick, no insulation, or the fact that it wasn't inviting at all. Castles should be inviting, so that your guests knew they were welcome.

Whatever the reason, Kuja and Jecht decidedly didn't like it.

"They've got wards." Jecht said bored.

"I see that." Kuja said and walked through the front door undetected. "These children." He sighed. "I just don't think saving the world is fun anymore."

"You know," Jecht said following behind Kuja's wake, hardly careful of upsetting the wards, they wouldn't be able to pick him up anyway. "You were the only one of us, except maybe 'Nova that found any of that fun."

"You didn't have any fun at all?" Kuja asked, looking over his shoulder as he passed countless Heartless who were carrying trays, probably to Ursula considering the contents.

"I'll admit," Jecht said grudgingly. "The times when we weren't almost killed, I didn't completely hate the company."

"So you see—"

"Halt! Blaggards!" Captain James Hook walked forward; with his old sea-dog nose he thought he sniffed the high tides. "What be your purpose in this castle?" He asked, his black hair falling in greasy rivulets on his shoulders, his captain's coat neatly washed, and his pantaloons pressed for perfection. Even his golden buckles were exceptionally shiny.

"Purpose?" Kuja asked, turning slowly to take in the old Captain.

"Aye." Hook answered, his hooked appendage had been replaced with one to hold his cigar. Cuban, as he had pillaged it, along with lots of other loot. "Yer purpose, what brings you to these parts, you see through scallywag?"

"I've come for my Grandson's essence, it would be beneficial for you to be on your way."

"Your grandson?" Hook smiled deviously, memories of a time not too long ago swelling up in his mind. "No doubt he's a young man with brown hair, perhaps he flies with the faeries?"

"No, my grandson is someone a little more famous than The Boy Who Never Grew Up." Kuja said, and as he walked away Hook felt the sea, yes, the sea. It was so familiar, he was sure if he stomped his foot he'd feel the wooden floor of the Jolly Roger, if he opened his eyes his bo'sun Smee would have a map in hand, chortle out a 'Ready Cap'n?' and he'd be hauling golden doubloons back to Pirates Cove.

"W-wait!" Hook cried out as Kuja and Jecht made their way through the castle.

"Hm?" Kuja asked, smiling fluidly.

"Are ye God, or are ye more?" Hook asked, the sea was in his blood, he missed it. The tyrannical reign of a small part of Kingdom Hearts had been fun; he'd enslaved many low ranking Gods, and imposed his will on many lovers. But none of that compared to how he felt at the helm of his ship, the wood of the wheel creaking under his good hand, pipe held up by his hooked one.

Yes, he missed it all. The scallywags that met his beck and call lest they be keelhauled, the plundering, the smell of a town set aflame.

"Much more." Kuja replied emphatically. "You're part of Maleficent's little threat aren't you?" He asked, his eyebrow rising, though it was hard to see."

"Aye." He said seriously. "But I would give me other hand to that ticking beast to set sail with my men again."

"Is that so?" He asked, folding his arms. "Perhaps if you asked Marluxia nicely he would return you to where you came, tell him it's a special favor for Kuja the unfair." With that he continued onward, leaving a very pensive Captain James Hook puffing on a large, half smoked, Cuban cigar.

"You should have asked him where the dungeons were located." Jecht said taking another sip of his drink.

"Dungeons are always in the same place, my friend." Kuja reminded him. "The bottom floor." And they walked for a little bit, as they went Kuja delighted in touching the Heartless and reverting them back to gods and goddesses and watching them scamper out of the place as fast as they could.

"If you can do that," Jecht hiccupped. "Then what the hell do we even need your relatives for?" They took a turn and began going down a column of stairs.

"Because," Kuja grabbed a Darkball Heartless and it transformed into a very confused looking man fell to the ground. "Go. Run from here." Kuja told him and the man did. "Because I'm only doing this to the few Heartless ones that I feel can benefit them. It is tiring me, to turn the whole army back would do no good either way, and there are just as many evil ones as there are good."

"I say," Jecht grabbed a Detonator Heartless and it crumbled to dust on the ground. "That we just kill them all."

"And just what," Kuja grunted as he pulled door thicker than two walls off of its hinges. "will that accomplish? We can still save the good ones, their own in this state because they feel they have nothing else to live for, or they would have become nobodies."

Nobodies are what the gods become when they have absolutely no power left, there have only been three reported cases of this happening.

"I suppose that is one way of looking at it," Jecht said as they walked into a now door-less corridor. The hallway was long, and dank, and dark. It was wide, and foreboding, and made Kuja want to nearly run in without any regard for personal safety.

"Who's there?" A voice asked, it was parched, and cracked horribly for just having said two words.

"I could ask the same thing." Kuja replied.

"Please," The voice said. "If you have water with you, let me drink. They said I could drink when they opened the door last time to bring the other boy in here, the silent boy who only speaks to my head."

Jecht clapped his hand and a warm light flooded the room, the light flickered when Jecht saw who had the feeble voice. "Tidus?"

* * *

"Cloud, you have to stay here." Aerith said, her hands brought up to her chest as she pled.

"I have to go talk to him." Cloud told her almost urgently. "If not for my own reasons, then because he will be furious about Sora being gone, our brother had a second life, with people that care about him just as much as we do."

"Cloud, I don't want to see you get hurt like you were when you found out that that woman died even after you left."

"That was a shame," Cloud said, closing his eyes. "But I am no longer affected by thinking of her death. This is her son, he has her eyes, and her spark. I can canonize him before my presence starts choking him." Cloud told her. "I know I can."

"How can I stop any of you from pursuing anything?" She asked, and kissed his forehead. "But this will not be without consequence, my son. There is always a consequence."

"I think," Cloud said without much emotion. "That the first time I lost the only person I ever loved that that was consequence enough." He closed his eyes. "It has to work now."

"Then I'll take your word for it." She kissed his forehead. "Go again with my blessing, and come back to me before the war."

"I shall mother, and with another god." Cloud said hopefully disappearing.

Aerith sighed and straightened herself out; she placed her crown on top of her head and moved to the barracks of the castle. Her Jenova had gone out with Xande to bring in valid fighters, and to say she was surprised by just how many were there.

"A-a-all rise for Queen Aerith." Piglet said announcing her arrival. The little hand servant was never far out of reach of his queen.

"Please, at ease." Aerith told them all good naturedly. When they were all settled she spoke. "My men, my soldiers, my extended family; I come before you today not as your queen but as your fellow warrior. The rumors of there being rogue agents trying to usurp the power of both thrones are quite true. Probably more so than any of you have heard."

She paused to let this sink it.

"But let it worry you not. There numbers are great, massive even, but our hearts are strong. Our powers have no rival, our minds cannot be outwitted. We are the brightest, we are the fastest, we are the strongest. This war, neigh, the defense of our territory should not alarm you, it should enrage you, the ones behind this wish to take from you what you call your own, your freedoms." All eyes were on her, Xande was barely listening from the corner of the room, but Jenova was smiling.

"I would gladly step down from the throne if any of my loyal people wished me not in power," There was a cry of outrage from someone in the room, then another and she held her hand up for silence. "But it will not be forcibly removed from me forcibly, it will not be stolen, and I will protect my lands with my fullest capabilities. So when we are out there, and you see the armies of Shadows rising over the hills remember that we are not truly at war, no, because then we would be weighing the options of a loss. Let us fight for Kingdom Hearts, let us fight for freedom, let us fight for our family's sake!"

The barracks, which were incidentally the size of two football fields, erupted in cheers and applause. Each solider shouting loudly to one of their leaders and Jenova walked onto stage, her usual methods of shielding herself dropped temporarily for appearance sake. People still shielded their eyes, but when they noticed no one dissipating into thin air or turning to stone they all gradually looked at her. She spoke, and they listened.

"I don't have the words." She said clearly, her voice almost like a spell, this was her first public appearance since…well since her last grandson had been born. "You see, Queen Aerith is a guidance to even myself now, she has blossomed beautifully and I pray that she never wilt. Her words will ring true from this day till the universe can no longer go on." Jenova kissed Aerith's cheek and then bowed to her lowly. Rising she looked at the astonished faces. "I too will be fighting, but I fear my own time is drawing near, soon I will be the wind once again, Aerith's oldest son put me out of a job truthfully, I have only hung on for so long to guide Aerith where she needed to go."

Jenova turned back to the girl, but her voice was still just as loud, even the people in the back could hear her as if she were standing next to them. "That is why I relinquish all power of the House Of Jenova to you, Queen Aerith, I hope that you will keep us on as Dukes and Advisors, but this power was always meant to be yours, as you were always meant to be my daughter."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Hmph?" He said quizzically, and thought no more on it.

"Lady Jenova—"

"I am sorry, my liege, but if the next words out of your mouth aren't 'I accept' then you needn't speak at all." Jenova laughed and bowed again.

"I—I accept." Aerith said, her cheeks tinged a bright pink. "And the Jenova family will always be Lords and Ladies, Dukes and Duchesses, all the amenities they had before shall not go forgotten."

The beautiful blue haired woman smiled. "Your father would be proud." She whispered and kissed the girl's hair. Jenova's temperature was weird, her skin was icy on one side of her arm and quite hot on the other, clammy and moist here, and dry and cracked there.

"Are you leaving us soon?" Aerith whispered back, hugging her tightly.

"No," Jenova shook her head. "I will always be with you, though my body shall return to where it came if you so wish my spirit will, like your father's, remain here. Kuja was right, holding on has aged me horribly, the universe was kind enough to allow me this body for as long as it has. Live long enough Queen Aerith, and you'll find that becoming a Heartless is not the best choice in passing on. We _are _eternal, for we are not just gods, we are all what make the lives of the humans what they are." Jenova removed herself from the embrace and turned to the people.

"Long live the Queen!" She shouted to them all and each of the soldiers repeated it so loud and so many times it was almost a mantra.

* * *

"Hm…_Lady _Ursula, it would appear that they've found him." Maleficent was casting a spell to arm the Shadow Heartless with metal claws.

"What?" Ursula sucked down a live crawdad from its shell. "Oh, yes, well that is a shame dearie." Her languid attitude was weighing heavy on Maleficent's nerves.

"Listen to me you overweight, face-stuffing, coral brained puffer fish, if they return Sora's power to him his memories will return as well, and since you _illegal _took his throne you will not only be demoted, but executed as well when they get their hands on you."

Ursula went white, she sat up from her fainting couch, her tentacle's all bunched up tensely. "Send Hook after them!" She ordered rather frightened.

"I do not think Hook is in our service any longer." Maleficent answered in a sour voice.

"Th—then send Hades!" She roared. "He has to be back by now!"

"The same seems to apply to him. I don't feel their presence in this time period, or anywhere on Earth."

"JAFAR!" Ursula screamed at the top of her gills. Her perfectly coiffed hair was slowly curling with her seawater sweat. In a coiling of snakes a man arose. This man had on the garb of a Middle Eastern aristocrat, his goatee was combed perfectly, and his nose was crooked from possibly being broke quite a few times.

"You…shrieked?" He asked in his greasy monotone. In one hand was a golden serpent staff and in the other he was curling the point of hair of his goatee around a finger.

"Yes, there are intruders evacuating the dungeon, get them! Find them! Destroy them!"

"As you wish, your majesty." He said bowing lowly.

"SQUAK! Your majesty." Iago parroted.

"We know you can talk, bird." Maleficent told him in a tight voice.

"Come Iago, we've business." Jafar said walking briskly from the room.

"Alright, alright, I'm right behind you already. Yeesh. You evil guys really just need to slow life down. Jafar I was thinking, maybe we could go back to Agrabah, you know, get one of those nice harem girls settle down, I'm sure the Sultan would forgive you."

"The Sultan, my naïve feathered friend," Jafar said taking a turn. "And his princess, and her street rat all think that I am still a genie locked in a lamp."

"So what? IT's not like people haven't come back from mystical confinement before." Iago prompted. "You heard old green and ugly, Hook and Hades split, we should make like a cracker and do the same."

"Your jokes are insufferable." Jafar told him taking the stairs towards the dungeon. "Speaking of crackers one might think you miss—"

"Hullo." Kuja smiled. "I suppose you're one of Maleficent's lackeys as well?"

"Lackey?" Jafar asked, smiling deviously. "My good sir no, I've come to help you escape." His eyes grew a fraction bigger when he saw who else they were toting beside Sora's remains. "What do you need the other boy for?" He asked Jecht.

"Cause, that's why." Jecht said coldly, holding Tidus in his arms close to his chest.

"Yes," Jafar replied, curling his fingers slowly into a fist. "Well follow me, I know the way to the entrance."

"Bad man," Tidus said from Jecht's arms. "He—he touched me when I was all alone."

"What?!" Jafar nearly yelled, scandalized. "I—I did no such thing! The boy is clearly a liar, an orphan you know, whoever his parents were did a horrendous job raising him, he has not grown an inch since he was brought here, physically or intellectually."

"So then," Jecht said looking up from the face of the blond. "He's a liar? Because of his parents?" His eyebrow rose, but nothing else gave him away.

"That's right," Jafar answered in placating smile. "Just hand him to me and I'll make sure he receives his forty lashes for being so impudent in the presence of such clearly noblemen. Iago, take these gentlemen to the _entrance._"

He had meant to take them to a place in the castle where their powers would have been useless, thinking them new gods sent on a rescue mission by Queen Aerith. And if I had even a slight like for the closet lecher known as Jafar I may have been inclined to help in his situation. But…

Something exploded in Jafar's stomach, he doubled over in pain.

"What is this treachery?" He growled between his teeth.

"I want you to know who I am before I kill you." Jecht said in an almost calm voice, the ground wrapped around Jafar's feet, stationing his lower half in stone. "I am the horrendous parent of this lying child, but what's more, I am Sin itself. Without me there would be no transgression, and at the moment I wish I had never been, because you have committed the worst sin I could ever think of."

The rocks encased Jafar's body, squeezing him into an impossibly tight space.

"Laying a hand on my boy." He held Tidus with one hand and brought the other around onto the rock, snapping it in half. I don't know if Jafar died, because I have heard that the gods are immortal, but his blood flowed over the broken pieces of rock gorily. If he wasn't dead he was wishing for it.

"Well," Kuja said stifling a laugh. "I suppose calling him Rocky would be in bad taste?"

"Not now Kuja," Jecht said wiping his hand off. "I don't think your corny jokes have a place here at the moment.

They left the castle not long after that. Back with Ursula and Maleficent the Goddess of the Sea was beside herself with selfish grief.

"What will I do?" She asked Maleficent.

"I suppose you could continue to eat, relax, and be an oaf." Maleficent answered.

"Why you—" But her mouth disappeared. She looked at Maleficent with both unwavering fear and anger.

"Do you know who I am?" The green woman asked. "Not the Goddess of Witchcraft, or even the Goddess of Black Magic, I am the Goddess of Darkness, I am the Goddess of Fear, I am the Goddess of Terror. Till this point I played the part of a subservient follower, and I've played my part well, I did so because I wanted to take the blame off of myself for my actions, but it would appear that no one would believe that. I gave them too little credit; I could not follow someone as idiotic and pretentious as yourself."

"Now—now—c-calm down dearie." Ursula said backed up against the wall. "We can talk this over I'm sure."

"This," Maleficent said. "Will bring me great joy." And the light from the room and possibly the entire upper wing of the castle went out as Ursula shrieked in fright.

* * *

Cloud landed on Destiny Isles, Florida. The heat was intense and the sun was blinding, he smiled at the smell of the sea as the wind swirled invisibly around him. A fashionable looking young man walked by in a black tank top and a pair of white swim trunks, and a pair of red flip-flops and as soon as he was out of sight Cloud transformed his clothing to match.

He walked to the school, the journey took all of five minutes for him, his gait was that of a jet plane without the sonic boom. The local authorities were everywhere, blue and red lights flashing in every possible direction.

"You," Cloud pointed at a passerby. "What is going on here?"

"Oh! You play Blitz too yah?" The teen answered in a thick accent.

"What is going on here?" Cloud asked again, not answering the question.

"Brudda, there was a kidnapping you know? Two students gone, don't look good for the school. Don't look good at all, yah?" The flame haired kid answered.

"Ah, I see." Cloud said understanding a bit better. "Do you know of a Leon Lionhart?"

"Mr. Leonhart, the English teacher, yah?" He asked. "He probably with the po-po brudda, it was his nephew dat got taken, you know?"

"So he's with the authorities?" Cloud asked confused.

"You got it now brudda. I'm going to go play some blitz, yah? You join us when you get done talking with the teacher, brudda."

"Uh, sure." Cloud said waving him off as he walked away. It wouldn't be hard to find Leon if he was talking with the authorities. He spotted the spiky brown hair from where he stood and made his way over to the man.

"And you're sure that's all you know sir?" The man in blue asked, his stereotypical aviator glasses resting comfortably on his nose.

"Yes," Leon said in a tight, annoyed voice. "And that better be the last damn time I have to tell this story, I want to see some results, why the hell aren't you doing your fucking jobs?!"

"Sir," The policeman said in a restraining voice. "I'm going to have to ask you to calm down or I'll put you in the back of the squad car." He didn't give Leon a chance to retort, he raised the brim of his hat up then back down and walked off.

"I fucking swear to God." Leon shouted.

"Perhaps I can enlighten you upon this situation." Cloud smiled. "Sora is fine."

"What did you say?" Leon turned around, he wished he had his Gunblade but it had been taken by the police. "What the fuck—"

"Sir I'm going to ask you one more time to stay calm." The policeman said walking back over towards him.

"I will not stay calm to I see one of these fucking police cars looking around this island, he could be on the mainland by now! Halfway across America!"

"Sir—" But the policemen stopped talking. Everything stopped except for Leon and Cloud.

"Now," Cloud said casting a knowing look at Marluxia who was standing quietly behind Leon. "Listen to me, Sora is fine. Almost better than ever, and I can take you to him, but you have to promise to listen to me."

"I don't have to promise shit, where the fuck is he?" Leon roared.

"How would your mother feel about you using that language?" Cloud asked, his golden eyebrows going up in surprise.

"My mother is dead, you prick."

"I know." Cloud told him. "I know all too well, your mother was a beautiful woman, the only woman I will ever love. And she was taken from me twice." Before Leon could begin to yell Marluxia began playing events of the past.

"Cloud," Tifa said smiling. "I wish he could be yours." She was looking healthy, a glow about her even.

"I know." The stoic blond told her. "But for some reason your body and mine are not compatible, and I want to make you a goddess, through a process called being canonized, but anytime I begin you start to die a little more. And now you've gone and gotten yourself pregnant." It was a bittersweet look on his face. "Because I told you to go find happiness."

"Dilly dally shilly shally, Cloud." Tifa said to him. "I will always love you, till the day I die, there will not be anyone even close to how much I love you, but we can't be together, I knew you were too good to be true when you just showed up to me in that gust of wind, smiling, eyes sparkling. I knew it even better the first time we made love, I woke up in that toga thing and the flowers around us had come into full bloom even though it was almost winter."

Cloud laughed. "I may have had a friend do that for me."

"But we have to face facts, you told me the gods have horrible memories, there have been months where I haven't seen you, then one day you'll show up at my door step in a gust of wind and sweep me off of my feet and its all very romantic, but a girl can only be wined and dined for so long. I needed you here with me, and then you were gone for almost a year."

"I am the wind Tifa." Cloud told her in truth. "I can't be in one place at a time for too long, maybe if I got my mother to turn you—"

"But I don't want to be turned." Tifa said backing away from him, just standing so close she felt her energy draining. No one knows why the two of them could not be together, sometimes the best couples just weren't good fits.

"Don't you love me?" Cloud asked, and hated himself as soon as the words left his throat.

"More than you could conceive, Mr. All Powerful." Tifa replied. "But Zell is a good man, he's fun, and energetic, and he's here when I need him. Plus, this is his child I'm carrying. I can't leave him behind like that, and what will happen to the baby? Think Cloud," She said moving in quickly to kiss him on the lips. "For once, okay?"

He kissed her against her forehead and turned around. "Alright then."

"Hey, every time the wind blows that better be you checking up on me." Tifa said smiling, holding back tears.

"Who else would it be?" Cloud said looking over his shoulder for a moment and then disappearing as quickly as he had first appeared to her.

The vision stopped abruptly in Leon's mind. He looked at Cloud flabbergasted.

"Who…who are you?" He asked, noticing that time was stopped around him.

"Well," Cloud said smiling and then explained who he was, and who Sora was, and what was going on in the heavens above, then he explained why he had come. Both reasons. "I can take you to Sora, to show you he is safe and sound. But I also came for something else, you see it was prophesized to me that there was someone else out there for me."

"Someone else?" Leon asked, backing up.

"Yes, and I am not usually so forward, but I believe it is you."

* * *

"I want to go home." Chase said walking into the bedroom.

"That can be arranged." Riku told him quickly.

"Me, Sora, and those guys," He pointed to Pence and Hayner. "We're leaving, now."

"Hold on there big boy," Riku said standing. "And I mean that term lightly, Sora is staying here, and Pence and Hayner can leave when they feel like it."

"Actually," Pence said reflectively. "I don't even know if I want to leave."

"Me neither actually my old man's a deadbeat and mom bailed years ago, not like anyone would miss me."

"Plus eternal life seems like a good trade for school work…" Pence laughed.

"Looks like you're on your own with this one, Chase." Roxas said comfortably from Axel's lap.

"Sora." Chase looked at the brown haired boy. "Come back with me, and I'll tell my parents you're not a girl and I won't care what they do to me as long as we're together."

"You know something Chase," Sora said, he hadn't wanted to talk to the boy for a couple of reasons. "When they were trying to restore my memories I saw something, something that makes me want to hate you."

"What do you mean?" But Chase was starting to remember.

"Her. In my bed. And I am mad at you, but," He turned to Riku. "I'm more upset with you, I might not remember who you are completely but I know you told him to do it, when I was in that 'emergency power' state I could feel something in Chase's mind, something that was foreign, but familiar, and I think it was you. You made him do what he did."

"Hm," Riku laughed. "Yeah, I did. But believe me it wasn't hard to convince him, I didn't even use a difficult convincing spell, I'm pretty sure a dog could have resisted that level of magic."

"Fuck." Chase said grabbing his head. "I can't take this anymore, just send me the fuck back where I came from!" And he was gone in a clap of black smoke.

"If no one else was gonna do it…" Axel beamed.

"Sora." Kuja stood in the doorway. "Come on."

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Okay. If you like this story then you should know I'm just as addicted to it. Anyway it was easy to write but my word started corrupting it so I had to fix it…anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Zell is from FF8. Reviews are much appreciated! And highly suggested! By the by this one is about a thousand or so words longer because I couldn't fit everything into the usual 5,000 to 5,500 word structure I usually work with. Anyway, the next one will be out soon, but I have a month long Christmas break coming up soon, so there will be a hiatus.


	12. Chapter 12

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes:** Hm…what is with your author and falling in love with friends of his? Oh, I'm a boy by the way…its been a few years on his site I suppose I can say that. I do believe there was another boy I talked about not too long ago on here that I really like (still do) but we move on right? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one. Sorry for the double update, I forgot the dividing lines.

**Chapter Twelve: **Every Good Boy Does Fine

"Sora!" Cloud was finding out that Leon had quite the mouth on him, and not in the good way.

"Leon? What are you doing here?" Sora asked running forward and throwing his arms around Squall. They pulled back, embracing each other at an arm's length. Sora's eyes sparkled with a bit of sanity in all this confusion.

"Listening to them tell me a load of shit, this guy, Cloud, is trying to tell me you're not my little cousin, and what's more that you're some god."

"Of Love." Sora laughed. "Yeah, they keep telling me that too,"

"My boy," Kuja said grabbing Sora by the wrist and pulling him away from Leon. "If you'll only give us a chance."

"A chance at what?" Leon asked looking at Sora then Kuja.

"To remember what they want me to remember." Sora said looking very serious. "Alright, I'll give you a chance, all because this is just too much to be real."

"Its very real." Kuja said as he held up what looked like a folded black cloth, he unfolded it. Sora was staring at something he'd seen before, it had been in the dream he had woken from not too long ago.

A pair of yellow eyes smiled at him, but otherwise the Anti-Sora was as flat as cloth. Kuja motioned with his hand and Anti-Sora flew around the room, then he went once through Sora like a ghost through a wall, twice, each time Anti-Sora became less and less visible.

"Hullo," Anti-Sora said presumably beaming at them all.

"What is that thing doing?" Leon yelled, but Kuja held a hand up as if to silence him. Leon's smoldering anger finally broke through, he turned to Cloud on spinning heels and shoved his finger in the man's face. "How is this helping?" He asked, his voice just shy of shouting.

"Just watch," Cloud smiled, Leon did care for Sora, he loved him the same way Cloud loved him. He couldn't take Sora away from Leon, not all the memory erasing in the world would be able to fill the void that Sora left in someone's mind, anyone's mind. He watched as Leon slightly eased with his touch, it was good he'd waited just a bit before he turned this man into a god, who knows what kind of power he would have, and he would be likely to try to stop Sora's progress.

Anti-Sora was almost nonexistent now, the real one was clutching at his head. Memories of every kind were flowing into his mind at once, burning themselves into his conscious, things he wanted to know, things he didn't want to know, he felt something melting away from him, it was dripping from him like candle wax, his core was bursting forward leaving behind whatever it didn't need.

"Goodbyes are so overrated," Anti-Sora commented to no one in particular, he was elated obviously. "And since I'm not truly leaving, I suspect it would also be unnecessary. But I will say thank you. Thank you for rescuing me."

Kuja merely nodded with a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

Watching the spectacle was a totally different feeling. Sora's skin was dripping onto the floor, what was underneath was pure power, the energy was so bright that the humans had to look away from it, the blue radiance was Sora's true form, something he'd never wished to assume before. He could feel both sides to himself, his human conscious and his Divine one, neither trying to dominate the other, but instead settling together.

He fell against the floor completely. His strength was returned, his memory was returned, but he was something new. He was a god with human emotions, a hybrid if you will. He had lived for seventeen years in the body of a human child and had been dormant for so many more, and still seventeen years to a god was just the same as an unlimited number of millennia. It had been a life time since he'd breathed this air properly, through the lungs of an immortal.

Kuja walked over to his grandson and touched him on the shoulder, ocean water washed over the younger god on the floor. It completely covered him, sticking to him like a second skin, Sora sat still for a long time after that, not a muscle moved as the water stretched over him, blocking out the rays of blue light emanating from him.

Finally there was Sora, he was drenched and he looked tired. But there he sat, hair clinging to his face, and his human clothing full of water. He stood and Leon knew something was different in the boy's mind.

No one spoke as he walked over to Aerith. They stared at one another, not saying a word out loud but it was clear the conversation their eyes were having. Aerith was having a hard time not noticing that Sora practically towered over her now. His long spindly arms and legs and slim, slim frame made her face break in the hugest smile.

Finally Sora brought the woman close and hugged her, in response she threw her arms around him, and if Sora wasn't her son he might have been subject to her power like Axel was. Aerith and Sora stayed like that for a few minutes longer till Aerith pulled away and whispered something in his ear. He turned around to look at Riku and smiled at him, making the silver haired boy go flush.

He wasn't ready to be kissed by the renewed Love God, nor was he ready for how much emotion would travel down his spine at the touch of their lips. Explosions of color clouded his vision as he and Sora rose into the air spinning widely in an embrace of passion. Slowly they made their way back to the ground.

"I guess that means it worked?" Riku asked dumbly smiling from ear to ear.

"Sora," Leon grabbed him by the arm, it surprised Sora how much it bothered him to be touched by a human, even if it was Leon, he put that rising unnecessary anger aside and arranged his facial features not to show annoyance. "Are you okay?"

"I'm better than okay." Sora said, feeling all his power flowing freely. "They are telling the truth, Squall, about everything, I have so many memories, so many recollections. I don't even know where to begin remembering."

"Do you see?" Cloud asked Leon smiling still. "We would never hurt our brother," The blond man held out his hand. "Or anyone we loved. So how about it? Do you want to stay up here with all of us forever?"

"You're being unnecessarily sly if you're asking me out." Leon said raising an eyebrow. "Look, Cloud, I know you got some sort of prophecy that we would be together, but you're being too blunt, besides I'm more partial to women, not that you're not too bad on the eyes."

"Actually," Roxas laughed. "He's never been good at being subtle." Cloud glared at Roxas. "What? He doesn't understand that you've been waiting decades for him."

"Decades?" Leon asked skeptically.

"I had to wait for you to grow up." Cloud said truthfully. "It wouldn't have been right for me to take you in your childhood."

"So you've been planning this for a long time huh?" Leon asked glaring. "Thinking you'd just save my little cousin, whisk me away, and we'd live happily ever after?"

"I—" Cloud stopped himself. "Hm, I see. I'll send you back to earth then."

Leon smirked a bit at the man; his mother knew how to pick them alright. "You have absolutely no fire to you, try a little harder, but be classier about it." He looked as if he was thinking. "If it means I can stay with Sora then I'll let you canonize me, or whatever you call it, but don't think that means I'm falling in love with you."

"All in due time." Sora laughed, whispering it to Roxas.

"So how do we do this?" Leon asked.

"Well," Kuja laughed. "it's fairly simple since you're not a god already. All we have to do is bleed the human out of you," He looked at the other humans in the room. "If anyone else cares to join, then step forward."

Without thinking Pence and Hayner stepped up, hand in hand.

"I can't leave Sora without a best friend now could I?" Pence asked smiling at the other boy.

"Yeah, can't leave my bro…or my boy." Hayner said wrapping his arms around Pence.

"The more the merrier." Kuja laughed, happy to help, even if it was just for personal gain, their side of this war needed all the help it could get.

* * *

"So you lost Hook and Jafar." Redd said laughing from across the room. "You still have us, and the endless number of Heartless."

"And me!" Pete said interjecting himself.

"You're useless." Scar, a large lion who, like Rabbit and Piglet was worshipped by the animals of the world but more in fear than anything, drawled on uninterestedly. Legend in Africa said that Scar, the evil brother of the King of Lions, sold his soul to kill his brother.

"Regardless," Shan-Yu, the Chinese god of Malice and Dread, looked menacingly at Maleficent. "We no longer have them in our power."

"At ease everyone." Maleficent smiled, her losses aside she had done something that made her truly happy. Kill Ursula. Yes, killed her. Maleficent had done the deed with the utmost of her power, if Ursula wasn't dead she may as well have been, she'd sent the woman to the farthest universe she could with all her might.

"Aye," Barbossa, another minor sea god chimed in. "And don't be forgetting, Hook was not the only pirate on deck, _Lady_ Maleficent."

"Check your attitude, Captain." Maleficent turned to him. "Yes, it would seem that perhaps I haven't lost as much as I thought I had, my crew of ne'er-do-wells is still quite formidable."

"Ooh, darn right Green Lady." Oogie Boogie stated.

"Your Evilness!" Pain, Hades' old servant, ran into the room, Panic right behind him. "Sora has been restored to his original form."

"Yeah," Panic agreed. "And they're turning some humans into gods as we speak!"

"Flotsam, Jetsam!" Maleficent yelled and Ursula's old servant appeared to her. "Go retrieve Kadaj and his gangly band of brothers, I want all those goody-goodies as close to murdered as they can get before they amass any armies."

"Kadaj and his brothers," Flotsam replied in a slithery voice. "Yes ma'am." They disappeared as they came; both Pain and Panic saluted then made their way out of the room clumsily falling over one another.

"Lady and Gentlemen," She addressed them. "We attack at dawn tomorrow." A crow landed on her shoulder and Maleficent petted it. "Leave no one unmangled."

* * *

As the lights faded from their respected bodies Leon, Pence and Hayner all fell to their knees. Their nerves tingled, and their eyes were unfocused, mouths dry and hearts racing. That had been an experience, one none of them, not even the English Composition professor, could describe to you in fathomable words.

They felt free. Free of their human shackles known as bodies. Unlike Sora they had no new memories, but that was understandable, they had not been around for everything. They were new gods after all, just created.

Jenova smiled at them. "Welcome," She beckoned. "To immortality, in a sense."

Everything had been explained to them, they knew that Ursula and Maleficent were trying to overthrow Aerith's thrown, they understood that the Heartless would kill anyone who stood in their way. Ursula and Maleficent were greedy beings who could not accept their roles in society, it was all that simple. They needed no cause for war, only ammunition.

"What am I the god of?" Pence asked anyone who would answer.

"That is up to what power bestows itself upon you." Sephiroth uncharacteristically answered.

"Hm," A wavery form appeared before them. "So this is to be where I give you my power, eh?" Merlin the Wizard stood before them. Merlin (if you remember) had been the god of Magic before Kadaj had turned him into a Nobody, the closest thing to being murdered, except now perhaps being sent to alternate universes, a god could experience.

He touched Pence's shoulder. "Well, you've got a good heart lad, remember, magic is not a gift, it is something that you will always hold inside of you, something that will become part of you." He smiled at the boy when another form appeared beside him. "Oh, hello there Selena, I was hoping you'd be joining us."

"Merlin," The woman smiled kissing him on the cheek. "I guess we weren't long to have those powers,"

"At least we got to spent our last moments together." Merlin smiled one last time before he disappeared completely.

"Ah," Selena smiled. "How true." She turned to Hayner. "Hello deary, I'm Selena, the Fairy Godmother."

"No." Hayner nearly yelled. "No, no, no, no! I am not going to be a Fairy Godmother!"

"Oh dear, you're mistaken." She laughed. "That is my position, I am giving you my power. Originally I was the Goddess of Vengeful Wrath, but granting wishes to those who were scorned allowed me to take on a less…ugly title."

"Hell yeah!" Hayner jumped for joy. "What kinda power do I get?"

"Basically whatever you little imagination can come up with." Selena smiled. "But use your new abilities for good, and they will not consume you with rage." She touched his cheek and slowly disappeared into nothingness.

One final form appeared.

"You called, Lady Aerith?" Ansem asked, he looked tired, but beyond that he looked rather sad.

"Yes I did," Aerith said escorting him into the palace. "Ansem, you are about to ascend, like Lady Jenova, but unlike Lady Jenova you cannot choose to stay when you pass on."

Ansem took a moment to answer, he was breathing heavily. "My lady," He sighed. "you give me news I had previous knowledge of." He slowly got to his knees, no longer able to stand.

"It is your duty to pass on your power." Aerith reminded him.

"All the vessels have power already." He informed her, not so much sourly, but a bit spiteful.

"All but one," She pointed to Leon. "He is free, empty."

"Hm…" Ansem motioned for Leon to come closer. "You are strong, I can tell, take my hand, young man," He did as instructed. "I pass on myself to you." Those were the last words Ansem could muster before he finally passed on into nothingness; he ceased to exist anywhere but perhaps Bahamut's mind.

"Magic, Wrath, and the Sun," Aerith smiled. "I'd say that was a pretty fair trade off."

"A Sun God, yeah, _that's _what Squall needed to be," Sora commented. "As if his ego wasn't big enough already."

"Shut it, squirt." Leon said raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm older than you now!" Sora smiled. "You have to do what I say."

"Psh, you wish punk, I'm still your older cousin by a technicality." The man said mussing Sora's hair.

"Go rest all," Jenova said to them. "Something is telling me tomorrow we shall all be quite busy." After everyone but seven of them were gone Jenova turned around. "Do we have a place in this war?" She looked at Jecht. "You've found your son, can you still go to fight when you know he is here?" Before he could answer she turned to Kuja. "You have fulfilled your purpose, and I know you plan to stick around, but what use could you be if with every expenditure of your power you feel so blatantly tired?"

Finally she looked at Aerith. "And my queen, you have a duty to your people, newly crowned to govern over all of Kingdom Hearts, your place is here." Jenova sighed. "And me, my body is fragile, I am old though I may not look it." She put a hand to her son's chest. "You are really the only one I see having anything to do with this war."

"And yet," Xande said smiling at Jenova. "We will all be in attendance." He laughed jovially. "We may be as old as time, 'Nova, but damn it if we aren't the most badass assortment of old beings ever brought to one place."

Kuja slapped the tall man on the back and laughed. "I couldn't have said it better, old friend!"

"I will be there," Jecht said looking down at Tidus' face. "I made a promise, and I plan on keeping it. Besides, I don't feel a drop of human in this boy anymore, just the resonance of my power. He'll be a fine god of Nature, since Earth is already taken."

The man didn't look the least bit upset about his position being given to someone else, all he cared about was that Tidus was alive and well, even if the boy was sleeping deeply.

"So everyone has seen it then?" Jenova finally asked.

"She wishes to strike at dawn," Sephiroth said. "A bold move if any, very dictator-like of her."

"Ursula is being dealt with by Shiva and Ifirit." Kuja told them as if they didn't know. "To think she was threat enough to almost prematurely wake Him."

"Outside of this realm I fear what the Goddess of Ice and the Demon of the Mountain will do to her."

"She was expendable." Aerith said rather uncharacteristically.

"Now now," Kuja chided her. "Harbor no ill will toward her, she is surely dead now anyway."

"She can rot for all I care," Aerith said turning darkly. "I must gather the last of the fighters, this will not soon be a war forgotten by either us or the people of earth."

* * *

"Hm," Leon said as columns of liquid fire shot up all around him. "Not bad."

"Yeah," Axel commented. "Not bad at all, newbie." He waved his hand and the fire was gone. "Glad to see another fire god around here."

"Actually, he's not really a fire god, he can just manipulate it, you know?" Roxas smiled maliciously, he secretly, though not so secretly, loved correcting Axel.

"Your hatred side is showing." Axel replied. "I was just saying, besides me and pops I don't see too many of us."

"Speaking of him," Riku said leaning against a tree. "I'm surprised you're not trying to hang with your old man."

"Hmph," Axel replied. "I'm not some little kid anymore, he split when I was little, I forgive him, that don't mean I gotta hang out with him or nothing."

"Axel…" Roxas tried.

"No, it's okay babe, I'm over it really. Axel: the kind and forgiving, got it memorized?"

"No." Roxas replied. "But I'm mesmerized by that stupidity." He laughed and Axel gripped him around the neck with his arm and forearm bringing his fist to the top of his head and efficiently giving the smallest Death God ever a noogie.

They were just hanging out, rest was something that would have to wait a bit longer, it had been too long since any of them had been with Sora. Hayner and Pence had gotten off somewhere in the guest suite of the castle, and no one had heard a word from them since…but the others were together.

"Riku." Sora said touching his arm. "I—I'm sorry. What I did was…unforgivable."

The silver haired boy laughed, he pulled Sora closer to himself. "Believe me Sora, if you were of your right mind, or even slightly close to it, I would be so mad that I'm pretty sure the humans would think it was the end of the world, but because it was that bitch Maleficent I think I can direct my anger somewhere else."

"Good," Sora kissed his lips again; he kissed them hard and long and he enjoyed the tingle that went down his spine, the elation he felt at fitting just right against the groove of Riku's body. Something in the back of his mind told him this was what he had been missing, the something he'd felt was wrong for the past seventeen years, but for Riku it had been so much longer than that.

Sora could remember now. When he had been pushed he hit the ground hard, it all happened so fast that Sora's body barely had time to prepare for his descent. He'd been turned into a molecule in the air. From that he had been breathed in by Tia-Marie as a young girl, slowly he took to his new form; his body became the most hospitable thing in her body that it could, a zygote.

Years later when she became of age she was impregnated and Sora was the result. Tia-Marie had wanted to name him something else, maybe Leonardo after her father, or Giuseppe after her favorite uncle, but Sora just seemed to come out of her mouth.

And that's who he became: Sora Vertolini, born into the modern New York Italian family, his grandparents died not long after he was born, and his father left before that, he met his great uncle once, before the man moved back to Italy like he'd always wanted to.

Sora smiled at the fond memory of his mother on earth.

"Riku," He said again. "Is there anyway you can help a human for me? Its someone special to me."

Riku nodded. He grabbed Sora by the hand and their fingers laced together.

"We'll be back." He announced to no one in particular but Leon raised an eyebrow. There was nothing he could do about protecting his little cousin any longer; the boy was capable enough now.

As Riku disappeared something else appeared. A snake-like form floated in the air, baring its jagged teeth at them. "Nope, no brother of Kadaj here." It said, but before it could disappear Roxas grabbed it around it's thick neck.

"Jetsam." Axel stated looking the thing over.

"Let me go, you putrid barnacle!" Jetsam screamed, trying his damndest to electrocute his captor.

"Why are you looking for Riku?" Roxas asked, squeezing tighter, negating any escape that Jetsam would try.

"No!" Jetsam agonized. "Let me go! I won't tell you anything, I won't won't won't!"

"Tell him," Axel said holding up his pointer finger, a flame leapt on top of it. "Or we're having flame broiled eel for dinner."

"The Mistress can do much worse than you can!" Jetsam cried. "She will damn me over and over again!"

"Alright," Axel smiled. "We'll get the info out of you one way or another, hold him down Roxie."

* * *

There she was, Tia-Marie Vertolini, Sora's earth mother. She looked like she'd gained a few pounds since Sora had last seen her, but she could stand to gain about forty more before she looked completely healthy again.

The orange jumpsuit hurt Sora's eyes to look at, it wasn't befitting to his mom. She always wore colors that denoted what kind of mood she was in. Some days she'd come in wearing splatters of rainbows across blurred cityscapes on her shirts, and short denim shorts. 'I'm Impressionism today." She'd tell a wondering Sora, then she'd put him in clothes with colors that were swirled together but almost filtered out and tell him he was Watercolor art that day.

She'd been the most bizarre, creative, beautiful, loving woman he'd ever known.

"Can you help her?" Sora asked as his eyes welled with tears at the sight of her from Riku's looking pond. "Please?"

"How can I help her?" Riku asked, hoping to please Sora.

"End her sentence in that Hellhole, Riku, send her to live with my Uncle in Italy, please,"

Riku raised his hand and motioned to the right, the view in the looking glass spun till it landed on Giuseppe laughing at something another man was saying in Italian, they were sitting on a hill overlooking a picturesque villa, with what looked like a family reunion going on.

Giuseppe said something to the other man, who in turned began chuckling even harder. Suddenly the old man felt something. He got up from his chair and told his friend he'd be back, simultaneously in the Women's Correctional Facility Tia-Marie was staying in a pardon was brought into the woman's cell by the Chief of Police, called in by Judge Bebermen, the man who had sentenced her all those years ago. It seemed she was getting her sentence lifted to just a misdemeanor somehow.

"Erase her memory of me and Leon." Sora instructed and he did, but he filled the void with a new child, one she would have hopefully if she settled down with the right man.

"Yo, Vertolini, you got a collect call." The officer told her as she packed up what was hers to take.

"Hello?" She said but when the voice on the other side of the phone said something smart back to her in a foreign language she smiled. "Zio Giuseppe! Buon pomeriggio, Come sta?" He answered her, and then asked her the same thing. "Sono felice!"

Their conversation continued till finally Giuseppe said he was sending her tickets to fly out to Messina and live with the rest of the family. Tia said she'd be there as soon as she got the tickets, and that she was grateful to have such a caring uncle.

Sora smiled to himself, and then looked away from the pond. "Thank you, Riku." He said laying back on the floor and just remembering how all this felt, like it had all happened just yesterday. "Thank you so much, for everything."

"You're welcome," Riku said, draping himself over Sora, and kissing his lips again. "You never ask for anything anyway, it makes me happy to help." He laid his head against Sora's chest. "She was a lucky woman," He said, listening to Sora's heartbeat. "to have you as a son."

The brunet ran a hand through Riku's hair, the other boy was so warm against him, this love seemed impossible to forget. "No," Sora smiled kissing the top of Riku's head. "I was the lucky one, she made everyday an adventure, and she will always be my mother, and I will always love her."

Riku met Sora's lips again, he caressed the soft skin, felt Sora's tiny muscles ripple under his touch. He could feel raised goosepumps under his touch and he smiled. Riku missed him as much as he remembered missing Riku and it was wonderful.

He felt them slowly moving towards Riku's bed, and he could remember falling back into the sinful softness of it, and he could remember how hard his teeth gnashed with Riku's as they kissed in the most feral of manners.

There were several things that Riku was glad to be able to do, and one of those was to touch Sora again. He loved how Sora's stomach was so warm, so firm without definition, toned but not worked for. He loved every inch of Sora, every speck, every freckle, every hair. He loved it all unconditionally and he would prove that now, he would never let anyone take Sora from him again, the boy would be his till the end of forever, and then much longer than that if he could help it.

He dipped his head into the nook of the boy's sensitive neck and parted his lips and curled them back gripping the warm flesh there tightly between his teeth and nipping the boy causing him to yap. Riku smiled to himself.

Riku opened Sora's shirt completely, and next came his pants. He could have vanished them away, but he was enjoying this, and the look of pure bliss on Sora's face made him want this to last for as many lifetimes as possible.

He sucked on the new mark on Sora's neck till it was even more sensitive and then blew cold air on it, watching as the skin raised and loving the look on Sora's face, eyes screwed together closed.

Riku could be sensuous when he wanted to be.

The silver haired boy took his hand and ran it along his brunet lover's chest, over the plane of his stomach and trailing around his belly button for a moment before he grabbed Sora's manhood.

That did it. Sora's eyes were glowing a very familiar kind of blue, he was at the utmost precipice of pleasure as he tried to sit up and buck into Riku's hand, but the aforementioned held him down.

"Just sit back and relax, Sora." Riku said, he wanted to make this boy feel good, he didn't care if he was pleasured in return, this was what he could give to Sora, anytime he wanted it, anyway he wanted it.

He let his eye just take in what was before him. A delicacy, even if he'd be embarrassed if anyone knew he thought of it like that. Those pleading eyes, the pouted lips, the slight whine, everything about Sora now screamed, "Do me!" and Riku was happy to oblige him.

"What do you want me to do?" Riku asked sincerely, his voice husky with lust and his eyes overwhelmed with it, Sora delighted it. He reached a hand up and grabbed at Riku's shirt, the thing had been offending him since his own clothing had come off. Instantly the expensive looking cloth was gone, and what it left bare to the world made Sora shiver all the more.

This time when they kissed Sora was sure the planets were aligning, that the sun was burning brighter, the birds were singing happier, that the air even tasted better when it refilled his lungs.

"I want you." Sora said removing Riku's pants. "I want you how I never got to have you, I want you to take me." Then he took his lips again and wrapped his arms around Riku's neck.

Their bodies moved together in perfect choreography, their movements rattled the stars, their moans filled the voids of silence everywhere, and their joy radiated on the face of every lover on the planet Earth.

Time seemed to stop for them (and if you were with Saix at the time he may have smiled at you and told you that he was holding it for these too) as their kisses became more and more hungry, and as Riku's thrusts drove them deeper into Oblivion.

Their bodies dripped with sweat, or maybe Riku was accidently making it rain on them, the weather was doing strange things, and flowers were sprouting all over the room, lilies, Sora's favorite, though he couldn't be bothered to notice them at the moment.

The zenith of it all, and he was screaming Riku's name and he climaxed. Riku shuddered at the tightening channels of his lover, and wasn't long behind him. And for a moment they were between the height of intercourse and the mind numbing pleasure. With one last kiss Riku righted them, sliding out of Sora and lying next to him.

There were no words, no, not when they were drenched in the last rays of the day and everything seemed so perfect, so unlike what it had been. Sora fell asleep in his arms that evening, and Riku fell asleep with him in his arms, and it was nothing short of divine, spectacular, wonderful, beautiful.

**Author's Notes:** Well what'd you think?Reviews are appreciated, but the fact that you're reading makes me happy too.


	13. Chapter 13

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes:** No words, I like this chapter, tell me what you think? And which of these name choices do you like? I couldn't decide.

**Chapter Thirteen: **Rhythm and Blues/Transposed Reality

As the moon became nestled into the horizon and the stars were beginning to wink out of existence to give way to the dawn Cloud sat awake in his own luxurious bedroom. He had his head leaned against the cool wall, arms folded, trying to complete his masterpiece.

In his room the colors were dark, mostly black, but dark blues and purples could be found here and there in the tapestries of cloth that fell from the ceiling, and the black carpet was as comfortable as any bed, the only real light coming from the waning moon and rising sun.

There was a knock on his door.

Cloud wandered over to it and opened it, his eyebrow rose when a man who was the same height as him, who had strange coifed hair and even stranger light blue eyes. A man who had just been made the god of the Sun.

"Good morning." Leon said leaning against the door frame.

"Thank you." Cloud smiled.

"What?" Leon asked.

"I tried hard to make this a pretty morning, even if you weren't up to help me." Cloud said walking back over to the window he picked up a paint brush. "See, not only am I the newest God of the Winds, but originally I was the God of the Sky, and I must make sure that it all falls together. Leon watched Cloud paint another of his namesake right there, no canvas, no paint.

The cloud rose into the sky and settled against the soon-to-be pink horizon.

"So I have to help you create each day?" Leon asked walking farther into Cloud's room.

"Not at all, the sun will rise, the clouds will appear, the sky will be a blue all its own, but time to time I enjoy influencing things. We are mere catalysts for this power, they have a mind of their own, but you will learn that." Cloud put away his assortment of tools in a drawer and turned towards the intruding brunet. "What brings you here?"

"You knew my mother, right?" Leon asked, closing the door.

"Many years ago." Cloud said, remembering fondly.

"Did you know her intimately?" Leon asked, folding his arms, the glow from the sun lighting all of his features prominently, his cheek bones, firm jaw, delicately long eyelashes and pink lips.

"Once," Was the reply. "only once, but it was—"

"No, I didn't ask how it was," Leon said with a frown. "don't you think its odd you and I? I mean, if we were to…because you've been with my mother."

Cloud smiled. "I was a different being then, he belongs with her, and I now stand here a practical virgin before you." He pushed off the wall. "You have been thinking hard about this haven't you?"

"I have been." Leon said. "I was in love once, with a beautiful woman with a penchant for dogs. She was a blessed person, so full of life. I loved her dearly."

"What happened to her?" Cloud asked.

"In the last few years of mother's sickness we would go from hospital to hospital hoping for better news each day, it took us all over the country. When we finally returned she was gone, and all I had to remember her by was the kiss on my cheek before I left."

Cloud nodded.

"After that I didn't want to try anymore, I had always thought she was the one, then she was gone without a trace."

"Leon," Cloud said walking over to the man, as he did he could feel the rays of the sun kissing his skin warmly and he smiled. "I will not disappear, this is not a dream, can't you see that?"

"People don't just fall in love," Leon said. "If that were true every time you met someone you would be in love with them. It is something you have to work at."

"I didn't just meet you," Cloud said standing only an inch away from him, their shoes touches toe to toe and if he breathed deeply enough his chest would have been brushing Leon's. "I have loved you since you were a child, as you grew that love grew into something else."

"But you expect me to love you back." Leon said a bit hesitantly.

"It would be nice," Cloud said. "But no, I never expect anything. I plan on earning your love, because you are the thing I cherish."

* * *

"All the troops are ready, Maleficent." Pete told the woman.

"Good," Maleficent said. This had been a plan in the making for a while, that's why she had sent several of her gods down to the earth, Pete included, though he was more of a servant than a god, he didn't have any actual power, he was merely bound to her. Pete had a human son back on Earth, but that was a technicality. Everyone was together now.

The troops were the millions of Heartless and few Nobodys, they loomed over the horizon, bringing with them the night, Ansem was getting weak so they would be able to blind their enemies first, not that that would have a very lasting effect, but it would be long enough.

They reached the tallest hill overlooking Kingdom Hearts, pure evil rolling off of them like waves and a few of the citizens turned their heads to see the black clouds that were descending on them, a girl screamed realizing that the stories of Maleficent were true when she saw the green skinned dragon woman smirking evilly.

"Devour them." Maleficent said and held her staff forward, the army of pitch black bodies clumsily ran forward, tripping over one another as they converged on the city, some of the Heartless were trampled out of existence for being too slow, but for the few hundred hearts that ascended into the air millions more rode over the hill.

* * *

"She's here." Aerith said feeling it in her very core, the troops of god soliders became alert at once, she waved the doors open and in phalanxes they stepped forward, shields overlapping one another for an impenetrable defense, these gods were only a step above the citizens, hence why they needed spears. All others who weren't royalty barely had much power or influence in the world, save the minor gods who were relatives of the royals.

They were basically vessels the mightier gods could choose to pass their power down to. But only suitable matches would work, when Ansem passed down himself he knew it could be to no one but Leon, he was the only person in Kingdom Hearts that had the fiery determination to do whatever it took to defend who he cared for, the other citizens were all shams, but they were loyal to Aerith and he said nothing to them about their ways.

"Piglet," Aerith said looking down at her pink assistant. "Go gather my sons and their friends, we will need to head into battle soon."

"Y-y-yes my lady." Piglet said and he teetered off to find the children. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" He cried first stopping at Roxas' room. "Master Roxas! Master Roxas!!" Piglet tried, he hammered his wee fist against the door.

"Oh hi Piglet," Roxas said opening his door and kneeling down to pick the small thing up, he smiled at him. "how are you?"

"F-f-fine, n-no not fine, Master Roxas your mother is summoning you! You and sir Axel are to meet her in the barracks!" Piglet stammered rather quickly, he fought to be put down, he generally let Roxas carry him if he so wished but at the moment he had more pressing matters. He also didn't comment on how Roxas was missing two very important pieces of clothing: his shirt and pants.

"Master Cloud!" Piglet was out of breath, he so wished he had more abilities, like maybe teleportation. "Please open your door!"

It creaked open languidly and there stood Cloud holding a cup of what Leon called 'coffee' in his hands, he sipped the drink and remembered when Tifa would tell him how good it was.

"Yes?" He asked, Leon leaning over his shoulder, they had spent the rest of the night turning to morning talking, and were a little closer, making Cloud smile a bit.

"The—war—starting." Piglet wheezed, Cloud sent a breath of fresh air down his lungs. "Thank you," Piglet smiled for a moment then remembered this wasn't a social call. "Pl-please your mother needs you in the b-barracks!" The little creature said, turning quickly one leg flying to the side while the other propelled him forward, one more room to go.

* * *

Morning rolled by too soon for Riku, he smiled at his and Sora's nakedness and laid back content. He would let Sora sleep as long as the boy needed to, he was sure the events of the past eighteen year had all come together the previous day, and that night had been exhausting.

Sora's eyes fluttered open instantly the next moment. "Piglet is coming." He said randomly, but then there was a knock at the door. With a gesture of his hand they were clothed again in their old robes of clouds, Riku smiled a bit.

"Feeling nostalgic?" He asked.

Sora went flush and smiled sheepishly. "No, I really tried to make them what we had on last night, but I guess I'm still rusty."

Then there was another knock, this time more urgent. "Master Sora! Sir Riku! Please open up!"

Sora went to the door and opened it. "Piglet what is the emergency, calm yourself." Sora said patting the small pig's head, Riku sent a calm down him and it trickled through Piglet's body like a cool drink on a hot day, he could feel it wash down his system.

"Your mother, M-master Sora, she asked for you and sir Riku to come quickly. The w-war is starting." Piglet said finally, and even with the circumstances he smiled at Sora. "I am re-really glad to see you here again, Master Sora." Piglet said then he made a thoughtful face, hugged Sora's calf and teetered off.

"It feels nice to be missed." Sora smiled.

"Then you should be feeling great," Riku laughed he pushed Sora against the doorframe kissing him fiercely. "Now let's go kill some Heartless." Riku smiled.

"What a romantic thought." Sora laughed and they were off towards the barracks.

"There is nothing you can do?" Aerith asked Saix and Marluxia as the six of them came in, Sora sent Piglet to fetch Hayner and Pence as well. "Please, you must have some way of helping us?"

"No," Kuja said to his daughter. "They cannot, can you?"

"We are sorry uncle," Saix said. "but I have halted time too much within this past era, and Marluxia has changed reality, we have been dabbling, each time sends a ripple to Bahamut and he sleeps less soundly. If we stopped or changed this war we would surely end everything."

"Uncle?" Sora asked looking at Saix, then at his mother, then his grandfather.

"We call all of the originals our uncles and aunt, without them creating Time and Reality we wouldn't be here, but they didn't originally create us, Bahamut did."

"Back to the war," Jenova said watching them all with ever fading strength.

"Yes, let us go." Xande smiled, this time his weapon as an axe, and perhaps his smile was a bit too big because Sora was all the more nervous from it.

"Wait!" Don't forget us!" It was Hayner, he was rushing forward with Pence just behind, they were both positively glowing.

"We—want—to help." Pence huffed when they finally got to the group. So the eight of them, gods old and new, forgotten and never known, walked into the battlefield, some with weapons, others with their bare fists, but regardless this one would rock the worlds around them.

* * *

Mickey Mouse was a very busy man, he ran three of the five schools on Papou Island, he ran the prepatory school on Destiny Island, and a few more on Florida's mainland. So when he had a little down time he liked to unwind with a fishing line, his two best friends, and his dog.

"This is the life gentlemen," He chuckled as he reeled his line back in.

"Gawrsh Mick, you don't think you should be spending the day with Minnie?" Goofy Goof, a tall oaf of a man with a heart of gold asked.

"Nah, Minnie's alright with it," Mickey assured.

"Hey," Donald Duck, who was as uptight as a person could be, looked in the water. "what's that?" The two others had learned to hear what Donald said even through his speech impediment and they looked over the side of their fishing boat.

There were ripples in the water, but that was strange since there was no wind, no fish jumping, everything about the place was serene as could be. Then they felt the rain, it started quickly and only got worse as the seconds wore on.

The three of them paddled back onto the dock.

"Golly," Mickey said running a hand through his silvering hair. "sorry fellas looks like we'll have to call this trip off today."

It was an unnatural turn in the weather, the clouds were a very angry violet and golden-red lightning struck across the morning sky. The three of them plus one Labrador mutt jumped into Mickey's truck. Pluto whined at the dark clouds, something foul was in the air, and whereas all the humans had forgotten the gods he knew better.

* * *

Inland at Destiny Island Academy Kairi Nomura sat against her window. Her beautiful milk white legs crossed and her mane of fiery red hair pulled into a ponytail having just stepped out of the shower. Her best friend/roommate/and twin cousin Namine Nomura watched the girl.

"What's wrong Kai?" She asked.

"Something doesn't feel right," Kairi said putting a hand on the glass. "I don't know what it is but I just feel like someone I know is in danger, someone who was close to me," She said, her eyes glowing blue with Sora's trademark power signature, though it was hard to tell considering how lovely her own blue eyes were.

Namine walked over to her cousin and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Any idea who it is?" She asked, Kairi was pretty empathetic, she always called these things.

"No," Kairi said a bit hesitantly. "their name is on the tip of my tongue, I just can't remember him, well, any of them. Its more than one person." Kairi said with concern, her eyebrows drew together with remembrance. "Like childhood friends or something."

"That's hard to believe Kai, all our friends never moved, unless there are some boys you never told me about." Namine smiled trying to cheer her cousin up, but she merely stared out of the window, up into the now nearly black sky, something was going on, something that shouldn't have been, and it made her uneasy.

* * *

The beautiful country side of Messina, Italia Tia-Marie Vertolini was having a cup of coffee with a man she'd just met. He was an architect, tall, broad shoulders, long brown hair and dazzling green eyes, not that she noticed too often or anything, but she was smiling at him, a smile she had felt since…

Her hand went to cradle her stomach, but something felt wrong there, and her heart hurt suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Antonio, her date, asked.

"I just don't feel well," She assured, she really liked him, but for some reason she felt a bit hollow. As if her sudden change of emotions wasn't enough something hit her hard on the top of the head. Then another, and another, they were being bombarded by hard rain. Hail.

Antonio and Tia began laughing as they ran to his car, it was almost summer what in the world was it doing hailing? And in Italy?! They laughed even more as they were both strangely soak from the hail and the man turned his car on, letting the heat hit them.

Antonio leaned over and kissed her sweetly on the lips and Tia smiled again, forgetting her troubles temporarily.

"What are your aspirations in a relationship?" She asked him as he curled his hand into hers.

Antonio leaned back thoughtfully.

"I've been playing the field too long," He said truthfully. "I'm not looking for anything frivolous or a one night stand, I'm an adult now and can't be bothered with them. I suppose I'm looking for that special girl to settle down with, if that doesn't scare you off."

Tia kissed Antonio again. "Does that answer your question?"

Suddenly there was the sound of cracking glass and the two inhabitants of the car nearly jumped through the roof. They looked to the windshield and sure enough something had cracked it, the hail was now the size of baseballs, and it was falling even faster.

Then it happened, a hunk of frozen water so large that it not only dented, but crushed the front of Antonio's expensive car drove the two of them into the small coffee shop.

"Hey, its some crazy weather out there, no?" The shopkeeper asked.

"Tia you don't look well," Antonio said taking her to a seat and letting her sit.

"I miss someone horribly," She said, her fists balled tightly.

"You're husband?" Antonio asked, she had told him everything about how he'd left her some years ago, about eighteen now, and how she had fallen into a lifestyle of drugs, he accepted that as her past though, she was much too much of a wonderful person to let her past interfere.

Her eyes were half-lidded as a single tear slid down her face. "I think I miss my baby." She said cupping her stomach. "I don't remember, but I know I lost him."

* * *

"Father!" It was Kadaj, smiling all the while as he cut open yet another soldier, spilling blood everywhere. "I'm so glad you could make it!" He said, look of joy not faltering as he struck someone else down making his way towards Sephiroth, who wasn't so much exerting effort as he was merely vanishing Heartless into nothingness, saving who he could, but nonetheless not caring.

"Kadaj," Sephiroth acknowledged his son with a small nod before he unsheathed his sword.

"Oh?" Kadaj stopped just outside of Masamune's range. "I get to feel your blade? Truly this is an honor. One I won't let you down on."

"You've never let me down before," Sephiroth said circling around Kadaj as he did the same. "The only time I can think of a disappointing moment would be with Sora, but I cannot hold you to that, you were so much younger."

"Yes, but now I'm much wiser, much stronger, you have not seen how much stronger I've gotten, father," He jumped forward, his own sword materializing in his hand as he knocked Masamune to the left and went for a blow, though Sephiroth caught the sword with his free hand.

"I see," Sephiroth smiled. "Oh my, where did this strength come from?"

Kadaj jumped back, dust kicking up as he landed just a bit in front of his father. "As if I'd tell you." Then he was back at it, the two of them went in a circumference, swords nicking swords, clinging, reverberating.

"You're doing quite well," The older silver haired man commentated as he defended another attack.

"This is but the tip of the iceberg." Kadaj assured spinning around his sword quickly making his blade like that of a helicopter's, a trail of green energy followed the tip of his weapon, he threw it like a projectile and it skewered Sephiroth's shoulder, the blade kept going through though till the hilt reached bone.

"Very good," Sephiroth said grabbing the sword and yanking it from his shoulder. "forged to inflict large amounts of pain on Divine creatures? That actually tickled." Kadaj laughed.

"I do love you Father," He snickered and took his sword back from Sephiroth. "But we should be getting serious soon."

"If you say so," Sephiroth sighed. "Sin Harvest Angel."

* * *

"That's how you do it my boy!" Xande yelled after Axel, he'd set fire to Shan-Yu's cloak, but the man doused it out. "Keep going!" Xande wasn't much help, he wasn't really fighting Scar, the lion had jumped him at first chance, truth-be-told he figured he'd let Rabbit take care of this, but the carrot eating creature was too much of a dignitarian to even show up on the battlefield, so he had to amuse himself somehow, letting the lion sink his teeth into him had been working so far.

"Fight me!" Scar said growling menacingly, causing Xande to yawn.

"I was in retirement before you even developed in your daddy's sack boy, I don't see much reason to fight someone so inexperienced." The tall, muscular man answered.

"Then perhaps you'd prefer more of a challenge?" Yazoo's silky voice crept over the battlefield. "I am the precision, and my brother here is the muscle, you can pick one or you can pick both, depends on how quickly you wish to be erased from existence."

Xande brought his foot hard down on Scar's head, successfully ending the creature's life, and kicked the corpse out of the way. He smiled evilly at the two and if they weren't so arrogant they would have known to be scared, Scar was no easy opponent.

"Both of course, boys," He said cracking his knuckles.

"Hmph," Yazoo smiled. "Suit yourself, brother?" Loz sped forward, a trail of energy following behind him as he ripped Xande to the ground, pummeling him with fists.

"Father!" Axel yelled seeing this from the corner of his eye, but an arrow pierced the left side of his chest.

"Do not turn away from me, boy." Shan-Yu said, his crooked teeth snarling in the morning air causing a small mist to billow from his mouth.

Of course Loz' ministrations didn't leave room for error, one fist after the other directly in Xande's face, sending blood flying out of his nose. But what Loz didn't count on was his fist being caught, or himself being lifted into the air by said fist.

"You're pretty strong," Xande said standing. "You like guys? See my son over there? Handsome kid, could use a stronger gentlemanly caller than the scrawny kid he's got now if you catch my drift."

"Enough of this nonsense." Yazoo said, face set in a definite snarl, he ripped both of his pistols from their holsters and fired them right and left, they were both imbued with the same power Kadaj's blades and Loz' "brassknuckles" were, the bullets hit Xande head on, and he took the pain better than expected.

"You shootin' me with bees?" He asked, but before Yazoo could answer he swung Loz around in the air, once, twice and then launched him into his brother, sending them both hurtling to the ground.

"Our attacks are not working," Yazoo confirmed.

"Don't cry Yazoo." Loz smirked jumping back up ready for more.

* * *

"Maleficent." Jenova smiled, it sent a jolt of electricity down the spines of all the lesser beings around them, successfully eliminating twenty Heartless without even looking at them.

"Why if it isn't the has-been Queen." Maleficent bowed regally.

"Prepare to die!" Sora yelled at the woman, but she merely laughed at him.

"You've brought your little runaway." She said and then looked at Riku. "And his boyfriend."

"Sora, you two go elsewhere, this is _my _fight." Jenova said throwing off the long gown she'd come to battle with. Underneath lied a single suit of clothing, black leather shining in the early rays of the sun.

"Grandmother," Riku said wanting to protest.

"Go!" She shouted and the two continued ahead. "Now, I'll teach you to call someone a has-been, you snake."

"Dragon actually." Maleficent said, but her voice became deeper, darker, more fiery as she transformed from her petite form to that of a huge mythical creature, black in nature with a purple underbelly, her scales had a green glint, and her eyes were the yellow of a lizard's.

"That's an improvement for your looks." Jenova smiled maliciously, in her hand appeared a long sword, and around her gathered the strongest of the four winds: the North. Cloud had been right when he figured she hadn't taught him everything.

* * *

"Ye blasted bag of bug, what're you doing?" Barbossa asked disgusted?

"Eating a fly and blueberry pie of course!" Oogie Boogie supplied as if it were natural. "They're delish! Would you like a bite?"

"This be a war you daft insect!" Barbossa shouted.

"Are we interrupting?" Sora asked smiling when they saw him, he noticed Oogie Boogie's mouth drop open.

"They're actually letting you in on the battle?" The Thanksgiving nightmare asked, he'd escaped from the God of Dream's realm a long time ago and no one had cared enough to return him.

"I could say the same thing about you." Sora remarked, his pride only slightly hurt.

"I suppose I'll be taking the God of Love," Barbossa said pulling his sword from its sheathe. "So I can cut the Sea out of him and claim it fully for meself."

"Ooooh! Then I'll get the strapping lad with the platinum hair, you're joking, I can't believe my eyes, I mean look at this kid," Oogie commented, only slightly creeping Riku out.

"I'm going to have a lot of fun killing you." Riku said quite serious.

"Aye, so will I." Barbossa smiled a yellowed smile.

* * *

Far off the war was rocking Olympus, there were tremors in Hephaestus's volcanoes, spilling his precious lava everywhere, without it he would not be able to properly forge weapons.

Hera looked the most upset out of the whole group of Olympian gods though. "Zeus, do something about this, it is disrupting my family and I will not tolerate it." She seethed.

"Now honey—"

"You want to start making up for your infidelity? Well then go over there, throw some lightning around and shut those people up."

"Hera, darling, how do you think they felt last time we had to fight back the Titans?" Zeus asked, it wasn't his place to disrupt the all out brawl in the neighboring Heaven. "How would you have felt if they came over here and told you how to do your job?"

"Oh that was millennia ago!" Hera insisted.

"Woman! I said I wasn't going and that's the final straw." Zeus said and stomped his foot, the claps of thunder around them finalizing his statement.

"If you won't do it then I'll send Ares, or maybe Posedion, I haven't talked to him in ages, I wonder how his marriage is doing, I heard it was on the rocks, maybe I can console him—"

"Enough!" Zeus shouted and it was like the heavens were shaking, which they quite literally were. "I'll go, damn it, don't go dragging my brethren in on this."

"I figured you would see it my way." Hera smiled and kissed Zeus walking away.

"Uh, sire, I thought no one told you what to do." Hermes said trying to get Zeus' attention.

"Look at that Herm, I hate to see her leave but I love watching her go," Hermes rolled his eyes.

* * *

Ursula was quite unhappy, quiet unhappy indeed. Frozen by the Ice Goddess, and being watched by the Demon of the Mountain. It was quite the predicament to be in, but what may have been more concerning was the fact that Bahamut, the greatest being in his own right, was tossing in his sleep.

His claws raked against the ethereal nothingness of his home and his eye twitched. _What was that damnable noise? _His eye opened slightly and he breathed a blue flame into the air upon his waking.

Ursula inked herself at the sight of him.

Bahamut looked at her, then at Shiva, who telepathically conveyed all that was going on, and then at Ifirit who looked like he couldn't care either way. He nodded once and in one fluid motion Ursula had been devoured.

No. She was not happy at all.

* * *

Chase Günter was lying in a hospital bed with a fever of 112 degrees, they were doing their best to stabilize him but he didn't show any signs of being sick in anyway, his EKGs all came back negative, cat scans didn't show anything, they couldn't find a problem but his system was doing a total shut down.

"We'll have to break this fever before we can do anything else," The doctor said and the nurses brought in giant bags of ice to sit around and lay on top of him. Chase's vision was blurry, he was having vivid flashes of memory that left him wondering things.

"Doctor he's seizing!" A nurse yelled.

"Get the damn restraints!" The seasoned man said, he placed a bar between Chase's teeth to keep him from biting his tongue. Almost as soon as the seizure came it was over, and his heart rate returned to normal. "Give me his chart," the doctor said, he was two years from retirement and he'd be damned if he let any of his patients die.

"This kid's serotonin levels are off the charts!" He said turning on the nurses. "Is he some kind of druggie?"

"Everything in his blood work and urine sample came back clean," The nurse said.

"Get me an SRI stat, and we'll see if that calms him down,"

"He's mumbling in his speech," One of the other nurses said as she changed out his IV drip.

"S-Sor—" He tried, but the doctor administered a sleeping agent.

"Page me when he wakes up," The man said gripping the bridge of his nose. "what is this world coming to?" He asked none of the nurses in particular. "I'm going to try to catch a nap before the next cardiac arrest or pregnant person comes in." He announced leaving the room.

And Chase slept peacefully as they prepared to inject him with an inhibitor to calm him down a bit more in his waking. But while he slept he dreamed of ocean blue eyes, and a laugh that compared to the tinkling of bells, and someone with an unhealthy obsession with all things chocolate.

**Author's Notes: **I love writing this story. Tell me what you think?


	14. Chapter 14

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes:** Argh. I can't get any work on my other stories done (or school work for that matter!) with this story rattling around in my head, it makes it hard to get much of ANYTHING done really. I really wanted to finish it up on this one but I was thinking one or two more chapters should do it, depending on if I can resolve some of these issues in just one chapter, but it will in all likelihood be two.

Well go read, this story just keeps getting better in my very modest opinion.

**Chapter Fourteen:** Chords of A Feather

"You've gotten pathetic." Maleficent smiled maliciously, her long fangs gleaming in the noon sun, she knocked Jenova to the ground again, a thin sheen of sweat was built on the fallen woman's forehead as she huffed and puffed. "Face facts, you should not have come out here, you're much past your prime."

The universe around her couldn't help, it was doing its best to protect her and couldn't be defensive and offensive at the same time. Jenova stood on shaky legs, she could feel the pull of ascension even stronger than before now but she battled it as well, not till she saw this creature fall.

"That's—not something that should concern you." Jenova said standing at her full height, shoulders back, and beautiful silvery blue hair whipping in her wind. "You should be more worried about your imminent death!" She moved with the grace of a cheetah, her eyes determined, her blade true and her gait strong she leapt in the air and plunged her sword between Maleficent's shoulder blades.

"Ah!" The dragon screeched in pain, she didn't dare revert to human form lest the weapon pierce through that frail body completely, instead she reared back and batted Jenova from the sky, the woman hit the ground hard as Maleficent's glare met her fully, there was no spell to freeze her movement, Maleficent felt nothing, only the hatred of being a lesser being.

Her tail swooped around her back and wrapped around the hilt of the sword in her back pulling it out quickly.

"You royal bitch." Maleficent sneered, the weapon had runes so old that she couldn't decipher them, but she knew they were meant to weaken her and she threw the offending thing on the ground. "Prepare to die!" A tornado of flames erupted from her throat, incinerating everything in front of her, almost.

"Only a coward would try to kill a fallen opponent that is not the way of battle." Xande stood there, Maleficent's flames magnificently swirling in his hand in a showy display of someone who would never feel his age.

"Leave this to me," Jenova tried, standing, her long hair pooling around her in a mess, her breathing ragged.

"I don't think so," Xande said smiling.

"You cannot do this on your own," Jecht said standing there, Tidus by his side.

"What? How did you get past the brothers?" Maleficent asked, her giant fist clenching in both the agony of her sword wound and of seeing these three standing together.

"Those brats? I left them to someone more their speed." He smiled, from the corner of her eye she could see water clones and bolts of lightning dancing around Yazoo and Loz. She growled deeply billowing smoke into the air.

"So are we going to do this?" Jecht asked, his dark eyebrow rising.

"Batter's up!" Xande yelled sending Maleficent's flames right back at her, she met them with another explosion of equally hot combustion, not noticing her feet becoming planted into the ground.

"What treachery is this?" She screamed when she tried to move.

"All's fair in love and war." Xande smiled.

"How true," She said breaking the bonds that held her in place, in the next moment she was gone, half of her army as well.

* * *

"Dance—"

"I swear if you say 'dance water, dance' one more time I'm going to shock you into oblivion." Larxene glared at her unintended partner. She dodged another attack from Loz before bursting out laughing. "Oh, is that what an attack is? I thought it had to hit your opponent!" Slamming him in the face with her right foot she landed gracefully back on the ground smiling.

"You are beginning to annoy us," Yazoo said stepping forward.

"Y-yeah." Loz agreed trying to right himself.

"Oh," She remarked lifting her hand in the air. "my apologies!" A bombardment of lightning strikes the ground in rapid succession, Yazoo barely dodging and Loz indefinitely shocked.

"Leave some for me!" Demyx pleads sending his water clones forward to attack.

"Why don't you go wait in the corner while momma handles the bullies, loser?" The blonde girl asked turning a blue eye on Demyx and widening her smile.

"Dance water, dance!" Demyx shouted, smiling at the annoyed Larxene while the liquid copies pummeled the silver haired brothers.

"Must you insist on being the hero?" The blonde grabbed the bridge of her nose smirking all the while at her associate, then turning a serious eye to the matter at hand.

* * *

"Where the hell did they go?" Riku asked, his sword had been charged with enough power to eliminate Oogie, or at least send him back to the dream world permanently, and he'd had the bag of bugs by the throat then he suddenly disappeared along with over half the Heartless. "Damn it! Cowards!"

The few enemies that were left, foot soldiers if anything, just Shadow Heartless, or people who had been, at one point, insignificant gods, though in Sora's opinion any god was a significant one. The two of them turned back toward where Maleficent had been fighting Jenova, but the giant beast was gone.

"Grandmother!" Riku yelled running towards her, Sora in tow. "Are you alright?" He asked kneeling down beside her.

"Its nothing too serious, my boy." Jenova smiled using Riku's arm to stand, she leaned on him and he pulled her in close, hugging her to his chest. "My, my you've gotten so tall, I remember when I would hold you as a babe, and rock you gently to sleep, now look at you, all grown up." She said, her form was wavery, almost transparent.

"Stop that." Riku said tears with in his eyes. "Even when you ascend it'll be just like Kuja, you'll still be here!"

"Yes dear," Jenova said holding on her very tightest. "But I will simply pass through you, I will be a ghost whilst he is solid, well, more or less." She cupped his face in her hands and gently kissed both of his cheeks then his nose, and finally a kiss to his lips. "You are so much like your father, so one minded, so arrogant, so loving and caring, you both have many of the same qualities, and that is why you were always my favorite grandson, I knew you would grow up to be a good man, whereas I tried to raise your brothers right they simply would not listen, they are too young in their ways."

"You can hold on," Riku said kissing her forehead and letting his tears fall onto her cheeks. "We need you! You are the strongest person I know!"

"Riku," Jenova's hand was like ice underneath his chin as she grasped it to look him in the eyes. "_You _are so much stronger than me, than anyone, you have my blood running through your veins, and you have long since surpassed me, as Sora has surpassed Kuja, we are the old generation, and we have relinquished our titles to our children with pride, so no more tears, go and lead us into this war with your shoulders straight and your head held high."

Then the warmest, sweetest breeze wafted through the air, effectively blowing the remains of Jenova away like dust, what was left behind could have been an afterimage, she looked as if a picture had been taken but the camera had been jerked away from the subject.

"I will." Riku said trying to take hold of her hand, but she simply smiled when it went through and she shook her head.

"I am gone," She told him, her voice like the breeze. "but I will always be here for my family."

"'Nova," Xande looked at the woman with sad eyes, so was the fate that befell all of their kind if they lived long enough, and were of pure enough heart. "You are still as gorgeous as ever."

"Watch yourself," Kuja appeared beside them smiling his watery smile. "Some might think you were trying to steal my girl away," And when his lips found hers it was like it had been so many years ago, the sea playfully kissing the sky, misting sweet lips over the supple curve of neck.

"There you are," Jecht said with a little more contempt than he meant. "thought you'd left us to do this damn battle ourselves when you summoned us here."

"Sorry, I was gathering my energies, but it would appear that I don't need all that I've got now." He smiled.

"Gathering your energies?" Jecht asked.

"For this," With a wave of his hand the remaining Heartless (the ones not with Maleficent) reverted back to their original forms, all looking disgruntled, confused, and tired. After the effort Kuja fell to his knees, almost all of his strength gone.

"G-grandfather?" Sora asked hesitantly, that name still didn't sit right on his tongue.

"I'm fine, you can't kill something that's dead." He laughed dryly, which was a bit of black irony on this reporter's part. "Just need some more rest is all,"

"Remember when we were young?" Xande asked no one in particular. "Virile, vigilant, lady's men?"

"I'm still all of that," Jecht laughed.

"I was never quite a 'lady's man'." Jenova seconded.

"Bastards," Xande said smiling.

"The real question is: where did Maleficent run to?" Kuja asked, standing again.

"I can answer that," A stoic man with a long sword and cuts from head to tow walked forward.

"Father!" Riku said whirling around to the man.

"I am fine, Kadaj could not do me harm if I let him, he simply isn't strong enough yet." Sephiroth smiled. "I say that as if I wish he were," He sheathed his sword before he cleared his throat and faced everyone. "In short they've decided the best battlefield would be Earth, they were not counting on our numbers and want a bigger plane on which to slaughter."

"But humans could be hurt!" Sora protested.

"Human causalities are the farthest thing from Kadaj's mind, Maleficent might not know this, or maybe she does but has been ignoring it, but Kadaj is more in control now than ever."

"The balance of power among that group is forever changing," Xande said thickly.

"I believe that Kadaj relinquished his authority over them, and let Maleficent do as she pleased, the woman needs to be in charge, but he will soon take the helm up again if we do not act quickly."

"Hey! What the hell is going on?" Hayner asked, his hands were glowing with the residual effects of Vengeance, a very powerful attack indeed. "I was fighting this big Heartless thing and then it suddenly disappeared."

"Yeah," Pence confirmed.

"Good, I'm not the only one whose opponent crapped out on them. " Axel said finding the group.

"Just when I was getting the hang of these new powers." Leon exclaimed walking in beside Cloud, the brunet was smiling widely with his retrieved specially made weapon, the Gunblade, but now when he shot it liquid fire was his ballistic.

"Well, we'll just have to round them up." Cloud said affirmatively.

"That could be problematic," Everyone turned to see Aerith, but they shielded their eyes with her power fully unleashed, she reined it in. "Our war here is having adverse effects on the Earth already, weather, among some things, many humans have already died because of it, if we take this to them…"

"It's a chance we'll have to take." Kuja said, and then they spent the next few minutes gathering the once Heartless gods and informing them what happened, adding more fighters to their sides, when they were all rallied, rested, and ready they turned their attention towards Earth.

"I hate to interrupt," A booming voice knocked at Kingdom Heart's gate. "But my wife would like to know if you could keep it down over here? Aphrodite, my daughter, needs her beauty sleep, and well she's kind of cranky to the rest of the family if she's woken, not to mention Hermes has tons of deliveries to make tomorrow, and Hera is just upset you'll mess with the order—"

"Lord Zeus," Kuja laughed. "this is a war, how exactly are we supposed to 'keep it down'?"

"Dunno," Zeus laughed. "but at least this way I can say I tried, and that's all that matters, see you folks later, we should get together for a feast sometime, you know, in all of our honor."

And if they weren't about to go defend their, and the human, kingdom there may have been something severely funny about the situation. What the hell? They laughed anyway.

* * *

"You don't seem like much help to your family, Rox_ass_." Hades commented from his throne in the underworld. Roxas had come in shortly after the battle had started. "What're you guys doing up there anyway? Throwing a Spanish dance party? Ya-tah-ya-tah-ya-tah! _Ole!_" He hummed.

"The underworld needs a real leader when there is so much collateral damage going on, Hades, and if you're not going to usher the dead in properly then what good are you? I keep getting summoned here to take care of your dirty work."

"Yeah, sucks doesn't it?" Hades smiled, taking Persephone's hand in his and kissing it. "Have fun at your mother's?"

"Damn it Hades if you're not going to do this then I'm going to kick your ass out of here!" Roxas shouted. "I should be up there helping! But I can't do that if I keep getting called away! If you're still working for Maleficent—"

"Rocks! Relax, relax! I was just trying to have a nice conversation with my wife, that whole 'take over the world' thing was just a gig till she got back." Persephone smiled and the flowers in her hair bloomed. "Now if you can just do something around here for five minutes while I get an update I'd be the luckiest guy on the planet. Thanks sweetcheeks."

Roxas sighed and checked in more souls, this was going to take too long, he didn't have the time for it, and Hades' assistants had seemed to have wandered off. Damn it, always when they were needed.

* * *

The first thing Kairi noticed about that the day was that the mysterious rain had stopped, quite literally. The rain was still there, the clouds were still dark as sin, and it was still unnecessarily cold for May outside, this was no near-Summer shower, especially not with rain stopped the way it was. Then she heard it, a _poof_ sound, just behind her. Turning slowly she caught a glimpse of a beautiful pink haired, green eyed man.

"Who are you?" Kairi asked him, unafraid, though she felt she should be.

"Who I am is not important." The pink haired man had a scythe, and he was smirking. "What is important is that you have memories of something you shouldn't, you remember something I wiped from your mind, you and several other people,"

"What are you talking about?" Kairi asked, standing in the open everyone around her seemed to have stopped in time, Namine, Olette, Sofie, all of her friends were not moving. "What have you done to them? To me?"

"I don't have a lot of time," Marluxia said impatiently, ironicly. "The boy in your head, blue eyes, spiky hair, ring a bell?" But he didn't let her confirm this, he knew it did. "You shouldn't remember him, I got rid of him from your mind, I know I did." The man walked forward, his weapon tapping the ground every other step.

"So what if I remember some boy from my past?" Kairi asked. "I can't even think of his name."

"Fair enough, you were a good friend of his, I guess I couldn't take him out of you completely, Sora has that damn effect on everyone he encounters. It would take too much time to find all of his friends, all of his teachers, everyone he'd ever come in contact with and do this so I need you to bear with me." He stopped right in front of her, towering.

She stared up at him, mouth slightly agape, quite possibly at his height, or the fact that things around them had ceased, or even more probable his beauty. "What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to believe in him." Marluxia told her as if it were the easiest thing in the world. "Just believe in him, give him a bit of praise, doesn't matter what its for, doesn't matter how much or how little, just believe in him, and all those others rattling around inside your noggin."

"I've been thinking I was crazy," Kairi said truthfully, unable to hide it any longer. "I've been seeing flashes of them, of spending time with them, but we were all this age, not little kids, and I thought it couldn't be possible."

"With a little time everything's possible." Marluxia smiled, disappearing slowly as time began again, the rain started to_ plink _ off of her umbrella again, and the dryness she had acquired made Olette raise an eyebrow, but they continued on to the store for their girl's day (school being canceled because of inclement weather), and Kairi held a little bit more knowledge of that boy, that Sora, in her head, and in her heart.

* * *

"He seems stable now," Doctor Benjamin Vasquez told Chase's parents. "Is there any history of blood pressure, or any kind of cardiovascular, or even brain diseases in your family?"

"None doc," Archibald said, the doctor motioned for them to step out of the room to talk in the hall.

"Wake up kid." Saix said calmly appearing in a mist of black. Chase grumbled something and turned in his sleep. "Hey, I said: 'wake up, kid'." He repeated again in the same monotone as before. Chase's eye peaked open, staring at the man, before sitting up completely, eyes wondering.

"Who the hell are you?" Chase asked, his heart pounding quickly, but for a reason unbeknownst to him.

"I guess you could say I'm everything and nothing," Saix smiled a bit. "Don't worry if you don't get it, look, I know you've been having a terrible ache in your chest." He watched as the brunet's hand went up to his heart. "To make this as simple as possible you're cursed, now it's not a curse I can lift because I didn't put it on you, but I have an idea as how to get the curser to lift it."

"What?" Chase questioned, truly confused.

"Can you feel it? His power?" Saix asked walking forward and pressing his hand to Chase's chest. "Let it take you over completely, stop fighting it, let it rule you, and believe in it, this feeling won't hurt you if you don't fight it, that is the Love God's flaw, his curse's are easily broken if you're nice enough to him."

"What?!" Chase asked again, nearly yelling. He was in a hospital for one thing, and now this maniac was talking about his heart and about Gods like it was normal. "Look freak—"

"Ah, watch your words, you may not understand this now, but I'm sure you will understand this. Sora." As soon as he said it Chase's brown eyes began to turn blue, and Saix smiled. "You do remember, that kid is a cavity in the brain, one even Marluxia's magic can't completely fill."

"What about Sora? Why can't I remember him properly?" Chase asked, his expression now one of concern.

"Sora needs you, he needs you to want him," Saix closed his eyes and sighed, he did not care to talk to this human. "Want him like you have never wanted another thing before, covet him, worship him, call out to him when you are alone, he needs you to provide him power."

"But how? Will I be able to see him?" Chase wondered aloud.

"If you do as I say, if you want that boy with all of yourself and pour your soul into desiring him, then he will come, after his battle he will be summoned to you, it is his nature."

"I do want him! So badly!" Chase said, not being able to remember anything, but feeling everything.

"Good, now return to your slumber, rest till the moon is high, then let it wash over you and strengthen you for the rest of your days." Saix smiled a bit to himself. "It has been a while since this number of humans has been blessed, cursed, and even touched by the gods." And when Chase's eyes were closed again he disappeared.

* * *

The shop owner, Georgio, Gio for short, lived in a small house on the hillside not far from his store. He took Tia and Antonio in his car and let them stay till the weather cleared up.

"What a lucky break, eh?" Antonio asked.

"Look, Antonio, I'm sorry about before. I—I can't explain it, but I've never had a baby, I know that, my ex-husband and I tried, but it just didn't work." '

Antonio smiled and kissed her head. "_Ridicola bellisma ragazza_, you weren't feeling well, and I completely understand your want for children, I want some of my own one day, do not worry so much." He kissed her again, and she kissed him, but when she did she felt something happen.

"We are sorry to catch you in this intimate moment, Signora Vertolini, but we have to speak with you." Two men were now standing in the shop owner's kitchen, one with bright pink hair and a boyishly handsome face, the other with blue and a scarred countenance.

* * *

"They will be here soon enough, get ready to attack Ansem, I want him so distracted the sun gives out." Maleficent said, not knowing what had become of the old sun god. They sat on a grove in the planes of Ireland, green stretched as far as the eye could see, and even farther was the beautiful blue of the ocean. This would make a good battlefield, no city to limit her troops movement.

The one thing that was even slightly out of sorts was the dryness of the air. The sun was hot, too hot, burning even. She didn't remember earth like she should, she'd been stationed here for a semester in Sora's life by Kadaj, but he'd quickly turned power over to her when he couldn't hold onto his sanity anymore, he'd pulled himself together just enough to enact that one deed. But that was decades ago.

"Remember," Kadaj said. "the love God is mine, you may have Father, or any of the ancient ones they've called in a desperate attempt to salvage what little strength they had."

"You remember that after this is all said and done I will be Queen." Maleficent answered, turning her attention to the portal that opened up before them, out marched the gods and goddesses they had been fighting, but there seemed to be more than before, a couple hundred more to be exact. Where were the Heartless she'd left behind? They were meant to finish off the weaklings, but it seemed they were no more.

She looked at her remaining, stronger, Heartless, they were all shapes and sizes and their claws were as sharp as any steel, though they could injure a divine being much better than any sword and that dragon smile of hers crept over her lips.

"You're a coward Maleficent!" She heard Queen Aerith yell, spinning around she faced them, her shoulders held high, her wardrobe as dark as her heart, rouge lips shining in the unbelievable rays of the sun.

"A coward?" She asked meeting Aerith's chocolate eyes with her coal ones. "No, I'm no coward, but I am no hero either, I am merely a strategist." Maleficent chuckled. "If you cannot keep up then perhaps you should hand your crown over to me."

She motioned with her hand for her Heartless to find and take out Ansem, a second past, then fifteen more and the smile fell from her face. Her eyes darted from all the faces before her, not one of them belonged to that old fool.

"You are short a god," Maleficent informed Aerith. "couldn't find more loyal fighters?" But Aerith's eyebrows rose coolly and a smile played over her face like flowing water.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Ansem. Where is he? Your usual ace in the hole," Maleficent referenced the unrest there had been once before, a small civil war that had only ended when Ansem had burned the sun so brightly the warriors were forced to shield their eyes or go blind. Maleficent had been part of that as well, but they didn't need to know that.

"Oh, you didn't hear? Ansem, bless his soul, has gone to live in the realm of Gods who have lived as long as they can." Aerith said feigning sadness, she'd been sad to see him go, but she had never been particularly close to Ansem. "In his place we have a younger, more active god."

Maleficent's glare landed on Leon. How had she not seen it before? He was positively glowing in the midmorning light! No matter, it made little difference to her, the army was strong, and so was she, if they had to fight a little more fair so be it. She made her way back to her own side. These wars had civility about them, no one moved till Maleficent was completely turned around again, eyes glowering, she and Aerith both pumped their individual scepters in the air and an explosion of movement painted the Irish landscape with violence.

* * *

The passersby's were pointing and laughing, some called the police, others the hospital. But the subject of their amusement wasn't paying them any mind, he was blind to them, there was but one person he was seeking out.

Of course it isn't advisable for you to be out in your hospital gown in the pouring rain, especially with nothing underneath, having yet to be discharged from said establishment. But Chase Gunter didn't care, he didn't have a lot of agendas on his mind at the moment, all his ambitions pushed aside for this one moment.

He stepped into the _Dolce and Gabbana_ store, avoiding the clerk's eyes. Instead he found his target, an eighteen year old red head with one too many shopping bags in her hands. She was turned in a mirror with three other girls all examining a pair of sunglasses, an expensive pair of sunglasses at that.

"Kairi!" He exclaimed grabbing the girl by the shoulders and spinning her around, making her shriek, which was chorused by three other, just as squeaky, short screams. That got the clerk's attention and the woman behind the counter was making her way over to them. "Kairi Nomura?" Chase asked not caring that the back of his gown was fully exposed giving those behind him a nice view of his rump.

"Yeah," Kairi said staring into Chase's eyes, it was funny she'd always thought they'd been brown. "You're Chase Gunter, what does the captain of the football, soccer, and swim team want with me?"

"This is about Sora!" He yelled grabbing her by the arm and pulling her out of the store, sunglasses, D&G shoes, and purse all unpaid for.

Once outside he grabbed her hand and they sprinted to the beach, which wasn't too far from the store, but there were alarms going off in Kairi's mind, the largest one being all the stolen things she'd just taken unwillingly, the second being that Chase had mentioned Sora. She wasn't crazy, or, better yet the way Chase was acting, maybe she was.

"What do you know about Sora?" Kairi asked noticing how Chase's hair was all over his head, a brush hadn't been run through it in a good while, his hospital gown was not giving him the slightest bit of privacy from either front or back, and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked homeless, no, worse, he looked almost dead.

"I know everything about Sora!" He yelled into the air, jumping around a bit. "Sora is everything and he's nothing! I can feel him in you! In me! We're all Sora!"

Kairi took a step back. What was wrong with him? "Are you alright, Chase?"

The brunet stopped jumping, there was a trail of saliva running from his mouth and all that handsomeness wasn't doing him any good since he hadn't had a good wash for a while.

"No, I am not. Kairi, I made love to a god!" Chase smiled from ear to ear. "Sora! He's God! No—no he's a god, but he's an important one!" Kairi wanted to run, her legs were begging her to take flight, this boy was crazy, stark raving mad! But he knew Sora. Knew about him at least, and that's what she needed to know as well.

"Go on." She said sitting herself down in the sand when he did the same, he leaned forward, his teeth slightly yellow, and his breath putrid against her face.

"He's a god!" Chase whispered excitedly, looking around to see that no one was eavesdropping. "He's a god and we have to pray to him! Have to ask him to come visit us! Have to see him, have to see him! Kairi, in the name of Sora I have to see him!"

She nodded a bit, earrings that didn't belong to her jingling heavily.

"I wronged him Kairi, I don't remember what I did but I wronged him, not just once but several times! Gotta ask for forgiveness, won't ever be well again till he forgives me!"

"How do you propose we pray to him?" Kairi asked, ashamed that what he was saying made sense in her mind, she may have been a mite bit crazy for knowing, but she was absolutely mad for kneeling with him.

"_Dear grandson of the_ _Bringer,_" Chase began, and the words didn't make any sense to Kairi until she really listened, really listened, and she still didn't understand their meaning, but she could understand the words themselves, something told her this was Latin, or something much older, but she could understand, and she even began to pray with him. "_we give you ourselves, our souls, our hearts, let your many blessings shine down upon us as sweetly as a light rain._"

They were both shrouded in a blue light, the water, though not yet high tide, washed underneath their knees. They continued the prayer, all the while becoming more washed out to sea. Kairi felt the water, she knew it was there, but her mouth wouldn't stop the strange language, her eyes wouldn't open. She was scared.

"_Don't be afraid." _Marluxia's voice comforted her. _"Keep going, you'll help out so much more than you know." _He and Saix were standing together at the top of the beach, their hair blowing in the strong breeze, watching the waves lap over the two kids, the farther out they got a small bubble was forming over them till they were finally completely submerged, encased in a bubble of air.

"Do you think she'll forget me?" Namine asked standing alongside Saix and Marluxia, her sketch pad handy, she was smiling watching after Kairi.

"You're just as bad as Sora." Marluxia smirked. Namine, the newest Goddess of Dreams, was sad to see her cousin go, well, she was a distant cousin, Namine had long since stopped being human, a few generations back when Sora had first come to Earth, she had been looking for him, but she couldn't remember who he was because of Maleficent's darkness, but now all of that had come to a head. "Of course she'll remember you."

"It feels good to be back in this body," Namine announced. "Too bad it will do me no good."

"I've told you we cannot help; our powers of influence are too great." But Namine didn't hear Marluxia, she was sending Kairi and Chase on a safe journey to the battlefield, it was the least she could do, her colored pencil hard at work.

"What did you do with the woman?" Namine asked the two of them.

"She should be arriving now," Marluxia told her. "I just fear we've done too much."

"It is for the greater good," Saix said unabashed. "The humans will have to sacrifice certain pieces of themselves, it is the way it has always been."

"Not true," Namine countered. "Kairi has a strong heart, she won't have to give anything up to see our comrades in their true forms."

"Tia-Marie has given up so much already," Marluxia agreed. "I will protect her as best I can to make sure she lives the rest of her life happily,"

"That still leaves the boy," Saix informed.

"Sora will deal with him, if he so chooses to save his life let it be." The pink haired man answered, he looked to the dark sky on this side of the world, the air was different, tasted much fouler, they had messed with the order and now the consequences of such, and of this war, would be very evident soon.

'_Master! He is awoken!' _Shiva's telepathic message hit him like a block of ice. Marluxia sighed.

"What is it?" Saix asked.

"Bahamut, he is risen." Marluxia scowled, watching the waves with a hint of fear in his eyes.

**Author's Notes: **Too many plot twists? You tell me. What'd you think of this chapter? Any suggestions? Comments, questions? Just review and I'll reply.


	15. Chapter 15

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes:** No need for an author's note in this one, I'm sure this one speaks for itself, so just go ahead and take a read. More author's notes at the bottom.

**Chapter Fifteen:** Acapella

The clouds rolled across each other as tepid as sea water, the one ray of sunlight that revealed itself settled on Leon, the newest God of the Sun and the youngest in quite a long time. The Irish country side was a thing of beauty, green so deep that elves would've felt at home here, the ocean nestled sweetly next to the land, kissing the rocks directly above them.

More inland there was a villages, full of joyful people, families, smiling faces and hard workers trying to understand this strange weather, well overcast wasn't strange to Ireland, but the switching temperature was peculiar, they went on their way though, braving cold winds from one side and rather warm ones from another.

The world was not at peace, unlike this village of people, all around there were talks of terrorist attacks, the States were on the highest level of terror attack, England as well, other countries were redrawing up treaties, or invading lands, it was a true mess, but not here, a few hours outside of southern Dublin, this was the eye of the storm.

If you're just now joining us then let me recap for you: a pantheon without a name, long since forgotten, and longer still since anyone had believed in it, was having a less than civil war, a full scale dog fight was more like it. The blows were vicious and left and right people and Heartless on both sides were falling. Our heroes, that is Sora the God of Love and Riku the God of Earth, were fighting side by side swords stained in black from the bloodless bodies of their enemies.

On another side Sephiroth's sword was battling Kadaj's once again, they were almost equals, each strike of the sword closer to cutting one another, but each time barely missing. Sephiroth had once revealed his full strength on his son and Kadaj had fled, now he feared if he did the same so would the boy, so now he only held his ground.

Cloud and Leon, respectively the God of the Sky and the God of the Sun, were battling two more of Sephiroth's children, the God of War and the God of Combat, Loz and Yazoo. It wasn't a fair fight for the two children of Sephiroth, but they had tricks up their sleeves, and would not, could not lose this battle.

Sora's friends, newly turned Pence and Hayner, magic and vengeance, were fighting an older water god, Sora also being the main water god, and an old love god. Barbossa and Redd. It was strange, they were finishing off the last of their friends predecessors, the two old gods had grown bitter with time as they tend to, but instead of age gracefully and hold on to the power that the current regent of their place afforded them they became twisted and cynical.

* * *

Jecht and Xande, the last true Gods of Old, Earth and Fire, were battling the fiercest opponent of all. Maleficent. She had many titles, and many powers, but she had an ice heart, as black as the sin Jecht had once claimed to rule, since he truthfully created humans he truthfully created sin, but it did not consume him like it consumed Maleficent. She was wicked and horrid, cast in the ugliest light by her hatred.

This was her true form, a dragon of horrible power. Now was the time for all of them, good and evil, to take their real forms, though quite unlike Maleficent whose blackness solidified her in such a concrete body the gods were actually ethereal beacons of light in their true forms, all appearances of human gone and, save for the build of their bodies, only the real power of who they were was left in its wake.

So they took it up, and Sora stood there, as blue as the ocean, his eyes cutting straight through Heartless after Heartless, he didn't so much lift his own key-shaped blade once before the enemy fell before him. His lover, his life, his heart standing beside him glowing a fierce green rivaling the terrain, the Heartless were turning to shrubs before him, rosary, herbs, trees, foliage in general.

This part of the battle is speculation on my part, I was informed on it by Zeus' messenger Hermes because my eyes would have bled from their sockets watching this, you are free to interpret it as you feel, be you for Aerith or for Maleficent, I cannot choose for you, I can only tell you what I've been told.

Aerith parted Xande and Jecht from the battle, and they went to help their own sons fight, the woman stood there before the creature at least a story tall, she was dwarfed, her blue eyes shining shone out best of all against her glowing white. She was purity, she was innocent, and to some that may not seem like a strength, but to Maleficent it was her worst enemy.

"My liege," Maleficent bowed regally, tauntingly, sneering down on Aerith. "I humbly request to kill you."

"Lady Maleficent, for your evil deeds, for your black heart, for the misuse of your power and for the violation of every rule we hold dear I sentence you to death under the name of the House of the Bringer, this formal sentencing shall be herewith held out at once, and there shall be no overturning the decision of the one true Queen, unless…" The woman bathed in white light gazed at Maleficent. "Unless you concede and stop this madness, there need be no more bloodshed, no more fighting. If you so choose to wave the flag of surrender I will put you into protective custody from there you will be escorted to a prison till your punishment be deemed complete. Which do you choose?"

The dragon laughed, flames shot from her nostrils and licked the side of Aerith's face as she did so. Maleficent couldn't help shaking from the hilarity of it all, the impudence! She only stared down at the girl turned woman, princess turned queen, the babe that she truly was.

"A diplomat till the bitter end," Maleficent said smiling a toothy grin. "You will taste delicious when I devour you in that form, I will absorb you, and your family, and this band of misfits, then I will be strong enough to fight _him _on my own and I shall take whomever is left afterwards power as well. I will be the one true deity, the single sovereign, and I shall rule these humans, and the humans of any other realm with a fist not of iron but of titanium, the darkness of their hearts shall feed me more and more and still I will grow with power." She paused. "So to answer you question, _Queen_ Aerith, I decline your offer of imprisonment, and I reject your peace offering, truthfully it makes me sick that you would even try that tactic. You are weaker than I thought."

Aerith shook her head, truly saddened that she would have to take a life, but not so much so that it would be this woman's. "You are too far gone for salvation then, Maleficent, I hope that life as a Nobody will suit you." She extended her hand forward and the warmest, sweetest light imaginable shot forward embracing Maleficent in all the wrong ways.

But the dragon wouldn't be taken so easily, from her mouth she project a foul darkness, it billowed out blacker than the most polluted smoke and combated Aerith's good, the two of them pushing one another with all their strength.

* * *

The skies broke open, the sun glowing red and the surrounding area a jet black. Jenova and Kuja stood at the top of a hill, these two were the other halves of Xande and Jecht, these two were Wind and Sea, but more so they were lovers.

"We have done it," Jenova said despondently. "we have interfered too much, changed things beyond repair, look at them all, unabashed in their truest, most secret forms, fighting with all their might, not thinking of what might happen." And Jenova wept, bitter nonexistent tears rolling off of her wispy face. She buried herself in Kuja's chest and the man only watched on in horror.

"My lord," It was Marluxia, God of Reality, and Kuja turned to him before his attention was back on the battlefield.

"Speak," He said not looking away again.

"It is Bahamut, he's woken, and he's on his way." Saix, God of Time, stood there stoically, any signs of fear buried deep inside of himself. With them was Namine, the Goddess of Dreaming, she spied something on the battlefield, an old nightmare that was causing havoc.

"I will return," She told them and was gone in a poof.

"So it really is all lost." Kuja said with despair.

"Not so," Marluxia said. "There are three humans on their way here right now."

"Humans?!" Jenova said swirling up in a blast of air, standing before him, her hair flying back in a breeze that wasn't there. "What will humans do? They will die seeing this!" And more tears left Jenova's beautiful blue eyes. "More death; that is what you bring."

"Not so Milady," Saix told her. "these are very special humans, blessed and cursed by the gods, touched by them more than any human should be, one has the protection of Namine, one of myself, and one cursed by your middle child." He looked at Kuja. "And also cursed by your youngest grandson."

"He must be mad," Kuja thought. "Out of his mind, I have never heard of a human surviving such a thing."

"But he has, and with them they shall bring a tsunami of belief with them, something that will strengthen your armies."

"We may stop Maleficent, but what about Bahamut, what he has planned even I cannot foresee, that damnable dragon is so volatile, he may destroy this whole universe just to return to sleep."

"Maybe we will have the strength to defend ourselves," Marluxia said hopefully.

"We will give our lives to save these humans," Jenova said. "Now you two, go join this fight, all other rules have been broken so far, there is no use in you sticking to the laws if a full anarchy is in session."

"Yes, my Lady." They both answered before they were gone and standing on the battlefield in the next second. The Heartless were all but gone, but Maleficent still had tons of other minor gods who were fighting valiantly.

"By the beard of Bahamut, pray those humans get here soon." Kuja said watching over the battle with anxiety, his carefree nature set aside appropriately for this moment.

"Surely," Jenova said taking his hand. "it is darkest before the dawn, we cannot give up hope."

"My dearest," Kuja said looking down upon her with concerned eyes. "your optimism is one of your best assets."

"No," Jenova smiled grimly. "it is by far my greatest."

* * *

"These guys are too strong!" Pence said, a dark purple form with glowering brown eyes. He shot another spell at Barbossa, but he merely extinguished it with a wave of water. Hayner's hands were glowing light green, as was the rest of him, minus his teal eyes. Ballistics of hate flying from his hands, hitting Redd directly in the chest, but she kept getting back up, looking hungry for more.

"Why aren't my attacks affecting her?" He asked.

"Silly boy," Redd answered, she had once been a queen herself, over a large ever changing kingdom, with animals and cards as her subjects and guards. But not she was a fickle love goddess. "Your vengeance has no effect on me, I am the Queen of the Vengeful Heart! I am the Goddess of Spiteful Love, Unrequited Love! I am all too used to your torture."

Barbossa smiled. "Aye, ye are both weak, but babes against us, tis a shame to end what may have been hopeful lives." His gun shot a bullet akin to highly pressurized water, when it hit Hayner the strangely colored blood of the gods leaked from his wound and he fell to his knee.

"Need a hand?" Sora was standing over them, ferocious and strong, Riku beside him looking equally so.

"I guess I can owe you one," Pence smiled as Sora helped him up.

"Good," Redd commented. "Now I can claim my position,"

"And I me own as well," Barbossa agreed. They both stared Sora down hard.

"Get behind me," Sora told them and he handed Riku his weapon, they all did as instructed and Sora stepped forward. "Let's do this," He smiled cockily.

"Unarmed, ye fool hardy brat I'll send you to the briny deep!" Barbossa's pistol seemed to be set to automatic as he fired without hesitation, the only pause in his attack was the click of his gun when it was ready to shoot again.

The bullets stopped an inch in front of Sora and he held his hand up, when his fingers were fully extended they shot back, impaling Redd in the chest. She sputtered and wheezed as she rolled around, too fat to stand on her own, and instead relied on her power to right her again she hovered to a standing position.

"You punk!" She shouted. "How dare you, take that!" From her old scepter came heart shaped sickles, and again Sora rebounded them, this time into Barbossa who was quicker than Redd, but not nearly quick enough. The heart shaped sickles sliced him to the quick, his black bones showing through.

"I can handle this," Sora said to his crew. "Go on, someone else will need help somewhere." Riku nodded, handed Sora back his weapon, and the three of them were off. Sora turned back to his opponents. "I'm relinquishing you both of your power, and drawing what I leant to you back into myself, you have squandered your chances, and I cannot allow you to continue."

"Then come take them, mighty So-rah." Barbossa smiled.

"Obviously you don't understand," It was a voice very similar to Sora's, he stood next to the boy, in their other form they were twins, but Roxas' light was black like the night sky, his eyes glowed a murderous red. "Where you stand now, you're as good as a Nobody."

Sora smiled at seeing the young man and they bumped fists. "Took you long enough."

"Least when I got back I had my memories," Roxas sneered. "You seen Axel?"

"Yeah, he and his dad were obliterating some bad guys last time I checked." Sora said, and now they were fighting alongside one another, Sora against Redd and Roxas against Barbossa.

"Well, he's in capable hands," Roxas laughed and parried. "Come on Sora, let's end this. I want to see if we can get a real opponent if any are left,"

"Alright, alright," Sora smiled, and the next second the individual powers of Redd and Barbossa were being drawn into Sora, the two began to wither away, they're eyes becoming sunken, and their skin dried.

"With my last breath I curse y—" But whatever she was going to say Redd did not get the last words out. Barbossa only gave Sora a scathing look, his pride not letting him utter a word of vengeance, he knew he would not be able to take it anyway.

"Come on," Roxas told him grabbing his arm and running off towards more of the fray, what was left behind were two beings in all white, they had no eyes, but zippers across their faces, they were like liquid in their movements, and were quite mindless. Unlike the Heartless these were not the echos of a god passed, these were creatures who could never be brought back, creatures punished for their misdeeds.

* * *

"You're not giving it your all," Kadaj said rather angrily. "Afraid I'll best you?"

"Hardly," Sephiroth said with a slight chuckle. "But I do fear you may flee from me again."

"Fl—!" Kadaj grew red. "Father you are sadly mistaken, I was called away!" He snapped. "I reconvened with my army."

"Are you some dog being called by its master? You call yourself my son," Sephiroth spat.

Kadaj's green eyes narrowed dangerously, he took a stance. "You call Maleficent's dog," Kadaj said readying to attack. "But if I remember correctly when Grandmother was alive so were you!" He shot forward, slashing downward, his sword caught by Sephiroth's own blade. They were at it again, mark for mark, sparks flying off their quick blades.

"Do you want me to end you?" Sephiroth asked. "Or I can allow you your chance at revenge, its what you truly desire isn't it?" They were deadlocked, though Sephiroth was holding his blade one handed.

"You can't finish me." Kadaj persisted, that tore it. In a quick motion Kadaj's body lay on the ground bleeding profusely, and moaning in pain.

"Get up," Sephiroth said cruelly. "Stand up before your father, I will no longer shoulder your weakness for you, your ignorance of others, stand up!" The waves of strength rolling off of his father pushed Kadaj up, though not on his own accord. "Now, fight like a man, I am tired of your words, tired of your taunting, have I taught you nothing? If you do not have the strength to enforce what you say then stay silent."

Kadaj leaned on his sword, glowering at his father. "Shut…the...fuck up, old man." He wheezed. Stabbing his sword forward he planned to end Kadaj's life there, but something blocked his blade.

* * *

Yazoo and Loz were having trouble fending off Cloud and Leon, it was almost a stalemate, but that was because Leon was not as experienced in swordsmanship as Cloud was, though the man was still extremely good.

"Did you feel that?" Yazoo asked his brother. "Father is growing impatient with Kadaj."

"Perhaps we should help him," Loz answered, glaring at their opponents.

"Indeed," He turned tail and headed to where he felt Sephiroth's power, Loz right behind him. It wasn't very surprising to see the two they had been fighting in hot pursuit of them, it had actually been expected, with Kadaj they could defend themselves better, but there was the matter of their father as well. That was a road they would cross when they got to it.

* * *

"Impudent youngsters," Sephiroth said calmly, though he was far from pleased. "You three are cowards, your mother would be abhorred at seeing her three oldest acting this way,"

"That old bitch is dead," Kadaj smirked, feeling much more powerful in the company of his brothers. "Good riddance, she did us no good, she was human."

Cloud and Leon went wide-eyed at what happened next, the most apathetic being in the universe raised his sword high in the air, the roar that ripped from his throat was enough to scare anyone, and he jumped forward, dodging bullets and swinging fists and swords.

It was an amazing sight seeing Sephiroth take all three of them on singlehandedly, but Cloud and Leon felt useless just standing there. When they tried to enter the fight though Sephiroth's blade turned on them.

"Leave me, these three ungrateful heathens are my responsibility." He snarled, his power almost choking the lot of them. Cloud stared him down for a moment then grabbed Leon by the hand and they rushed off farther into the battle.

The brothers looks disconcerted, they had expected to rouse him yes, but seeing him like this, they weren't sure whether to clap or smile.

"There he is," Yazoo smiled.

"The father we knew during the first war," Loz said emulating Yazoo's action.

"Truly," Kadaj smirked. "now cut him down," They all rushed forward, trying their damndest to hit him. The three of them didn't last ten minutes against him, within that time arms were broken, gashes earned, and they stared up at him with eyes of contempt. Sephiroth sheathed his sword and closed his eyes, before he sighed.

"I do not have to words to properly express my anger." He said standing before them, the authoritative parental figure. "When it was your mother and I raising you, you were all always so respectful, so good," Sephiroth looked toward the sky before he turned his attention back on them again. "I never disciplined you, not till Kadaj desecrated Sora, so I wonder what made you this way?"

"You don't have such a large shadow to live in," Kadaj spat.

"You aren't the son of the great Sephiroth!" Loz sobbed.

"No one compares you to how great your father is." Yazoo finished.

Sephiroth thought about that for a moment. He made them stare up at him merely by willing it and they could not turn away. He was smiling, and what a God awful smile it was, his face looked like it had cracked, but that only made it slightly more intimidating.

"You're all right," Sephiroth said and he made them stand up. "No one compares me to me, but instead I am compared to Jenova, I am her son, she was one of the greatest beings ever to pass through this or any other universe, one of the strongest, most fair rulers, who am I? A quiet, reserved, and feared prince, and who is my mother? One of the single greatest things to ever happen." Sephiroth patted each of his sons on the shoulder. "I don't live in contempt of being compared to that woman, instead I live up to the expectation, I also don't seek revenge against those who do not return my feelings, Kadaj."

The aforementioned let his eyes hit the ground.

"But this is a war, I cannot be lenient, even if you are my offspring, I will not sentence you to death, but you will remain in imprisoned somewhere, powerless, for at least the next three centuries, maybe then you will have some insight into becoming better than what you are."

Before they could protest he snapped his fingers and they were gone.

"You grounded them?" Xande asked having just killed the last of the Heartless.

"Intensive grounding," Sephiroth sighed. "It's something mother would have done,"

"You know you are the head of the line now?" Xande asked, Axel standing beside him, after having fought along his side the red head had forgiven his father even further, the man was amazing in battle!

"Like I told them, I am still striving to live up to the expectations of being her son." Sephiroth said walking away slowly.

"If it's any consolation, squirt, you're doing a good job!" Xande yelled after him, Sephiroth's step faltered once, but he kept going, not stopping again.

"Pop, it looks like its about time to start wrapping this up,"

"Too true my boy, too true," Xande smiled, he took a deep breath. Damn he was tired. He followed behind Axel, leaning on his giant staff for support.

* * *

"Oooh, who do we have here?" Oogie Boogie stared at the blonde walking towards him. "Hey there little girl, what are you doing here? This is a big boy's game." He smiled at her with his bug teeth.

"No," Namine said holding her sketchbook. "What are _you _doing here? You don't belong outside of the world of Nightmares, now, it's time for you to return,"

"Just who the hell do you think you are telling the great Oogie Boogie what to do?!" The bag of insects asked arrogantly.

"Me?" Namine asked turning her sketch towards Boogie, it was an open door leading to a world he was all too familiar with. "I'm just your master is all, now goodbye, Oogie Boogie."

It was like a vortex pulling him in, he dropped to the floor and gripped the ground with all his might. "No! No! I won't go back there! You can't make me! Noooooo….!" He was sucked in, and the drawn door that had once been open was now closed.

"And good riddance," The blond smiled, she walked over to where the water was, just on time there were two bubbles washing on shore. She walked over to them and popped them with her colored pencil. The humans spluttered for air, Tia, Kairi, and Chase. "Hello there," She said cheerily.

"Where's Sora?" They all asked at the same time.

"It's nice to see you too," Namine laughed. "Do you remember why you were brought here?"

"To help." Kairi said, the blonde looked familiar to her, but for some reason she couldn't think of why. "To help Sora and his friends."

"Exactly," Namine smiled. "Now this way please, you might be needed momentarily, it would appear this battle is drawing to a close, but we have a whole new one to deal with very soon."

* * *

It was only Maleficent, Shan Yu, and Pete now. Of course, Pete wasn't dead, just out of commission. By that I mean he was hiding behind the largest rock he could find. Maleficent was not only defending against Aerith, but against all the other gods and goddesses as well, though she wasn't' alone, Shan Yu was a spectacular fighter, taking on anyone who dared get close enough.

Strangely the two of them weren't falling as easily as everyone else had. They were the last stand and they both knew it, Maleficent's massive army severely handicapped by its lack of actual fighters.

Aerith grabbed Shan Yu by the shoulder, and he was shrouded in her brilliance, he shot a look at Maleficent, and in the next moment he disintegrated. Maleficent's eyes narrowed considerably. Her great wings beat into the air, but Cloud stole the winds away and she could not fly, she went to disappear away again, but Marluxia made sure she could not.

"You're all going against what you believe in," She huffed angrily. "You aren't supposed to allow yourselves to interfere this much!"

"When you threaten us," Aerith said, the group crowed around the dragon. "we cannot help but bend a few rules to make sure you are eliminated.

"Cowards! Alone you would not last a moment against me!" She screamed. "You all standing together shows that I win, I scared you all into joining up, rallying together. Give up now, relinquish power to me, I will be a much better dictator than Aerith could ever hope to be!"

"You're wrong Maleficent," Sora said. They all returned to the human forms, all focused on the dragon backing up slowly. "We stand together now because we are one people, we defend what is ours, together, it was you who attacked a unit of people."

"Yes," Sephiroth supplied. "And Queen Aerith is not a dictator, she is a mediator of justice."

Aerith smiled at Sephiroth.

"Touching, but fruitless," Maleficent swept her tail underneath them all, sending them to the ground, she stood on her hind legs and bellowed darkness on them all. Something caught her in the throat, and her eyes flashed with anger at who it was.

"Tidus." She glared dangerously. His sword gleamed in the light, and he stood there as old as he should have been, his clothes a bit smaller than he would have liked.

"Die you bitch," He seethed, his blade sinking into her. She screamed in pain and he twisted it around, before lobbing her head off in one clean sweep. Her halves fell over the side of the cliff, cussing vehemently on the way day before turning to ash upon hitting the water.

The silence that followed was interrupted quickly by the loudest cheering that ever rocked the Earth. The gods and goddesses jumped around, hugging one another in triumph. A great many had fallen on their side, and they would all be fondly remembered and commemorated appropriately, but for now they could consider this a victory.

"Tidus!" Jecht grabbed the boy and spun him in the air once. "My boy! My son! Look at you!" He reined in his emotion quickly, and patted the boy on the back. "Ahem, I mean, you did boy, you did good."

"Thanks, father." Tidus smiled from ear to ear.

"Where did you get that sword?" Riku asked looking at it closely. It was a peculiar thing, the blade looked like it was made of glass, and the inside had some sort of liquid inside.

"Lady Jenova gave it to me," He answered. "When I was first brought back to her palace, she brought it to me in a dream, and when that woman was shrouding us in that blackness I just—I don't know, it appeared in my hands."

"Very cool," Axel smiled, he turned to Roxas and pulled the boy into the biggest kiss of his immortal life, several of the other couples kissed as well, everyone else still congratulating Tidus on his victory.

"You all should not be celebrating just yet," Jenova whispered in the wind, she appeared in front of them, Kuja beside her. "I have been informed that Bahamut has been awakened, and that he is almost here."

"Sora!" The brunet stiffened at the sound of that voice. That voice only belonged to one person, someone who he thought he would never see again.

"Chase?" Sora asked, he was soaking wet, and wearing a hospital gown, he looked absolutely horrible, nothing about him was right, his eyes glowed bright blue, and he looked like he hadn't taken care of his hygiene in a while. Tia-Marie was there as well, and Kairi! What the hell was going on? Before he could ask someone answered.

"Ah, they arrived later than expected," Saix said nonchalantly.

"They are on time," Marluxia smiled. "We will need all the help we can get when _he _gets here."

"Look!" Tidus said pointing to the still black sky. "It's breaking open!" It was true, the sky was opening and a large silver claw shot out of the fissure in the sky.

"He has arrived." Jenova sighed. "Gather your strength and stay positive,"

"God, out of the frying pan and into the fire," Axel smiled.

"Shut the hell up Axel," Roxas said and grabbed his hand.

"You all, get to somewhere safe," Sora told the humans. They nodded and ran got in one of the craters left from the battle quickly.

"They're purpose will become evident soon," Marluxia said to Sora. "They believe in you, and that's going to give you strength, they believe in us all if they see us in action, we can do this."

Sora nodded and looked at Riku, who smiled and gave him a thumbs ups. "We'll go together." Riku said taking his hand.

And then there it was, Bahamut, in all of its furious glory, his golden eyes landing immediately on the group below. The giant dive bombed towards them, screeching so loudly the seas shook. They were ready for this, they were as ready as they could be that is.

**Author's Notes**: Well this is the second to last chapter, hope you enjoyed it so far, and sorry for the wait it took to get it out, I wrote this chapter in one sitting, and made sure to get it out to all of you as soon as possible. Stick around for the last installment coming out soon, till then I'm going to go to sleep. Please review, it means a lot to me.

Love,

Hitome-Chan

**Author's Notes:**.


	16. Chapter 16

Piano Keys

**Author's Notes:** So sorry this took so long to get out, but I had some creative backup, and really didn't want it to end, but all good things come to one eventually. I seriously hope you enjoy this final chapter as much as I did, if it need be stated you all know I do not own the Kingdom Hearts/Disney franchise or the games would be a lot like this. Anyway, please read and enjoy.

**Chapter Sixteen:** Overture/Finale

"It is the end of days ladies and gentlemen, the Beast is in the sky, the world is torn asunder. Repent! Repent now! You're immortals souls may not get into Heaven now, but it will save you from burning for all eternity with the Prince of Darkness!" It was an emergency message from one of those television preachers. "Just send your tithes in to the address below, we accept credit cards, debit cards, and money orders!" He continued looking somber in his slick black and white suit.

Sadly he wasn't the only person trying to profit off the apocalypse, Ragnarok, whatever you believe. He just happened to be well dressed, with his own television station.

"Steve!" Florence Weinstein shouted from the kitchen of her three bedroom apartment in Topeka, Kansas. "Steve!" She said again, the dishwater pruning her hands, but she was almost done with them. Florence was an aging woman, she'd once been "Miss Kansas 1979" but now she was Mrs. Steven Quinton Weinstein, and it was an alright life. She had three grown boys, Steve Jr. Randall, and Carlton, she was proud of all of them, even if Randall _wasn't _married yet.

Florence sighed and threw her last dish in the cabinet after she dried it, drained her water and marched into the living room. Her gray hair was pulled tightly into at least a hundred hand curled curlers, the crow's feet gathered around her eyes were scrunched up as she stared at the back of her husband's balding head.

"Steven Rosenthal Weinstein, why don't you ever answer me when I call you?" She asked raising an eyebrow. "This is exactly what they were talking about on Dr. Phil the other day, husbands who don't listen to their wives—" She stopped midsentence as her gaze fell on their yard, and what he had been staring at from his recliner.

What had once been the Weinstein's beautiful front lawn, complete with garden, was a large crater. "My posies!" Florence yelled seeing her beloved (and award-winning) flowers scattered all over the ground, not to mention the mess that was her property. "Steve! Get out there and see what's going on!" She said knocking him on his arm.

"Oh, yeah, right." Steve, the balding husband who had been happily drinking his beer and watching the game stood up in his house clothes. Luckily his wife dressed him or _everything _he wore would have holes in it, and probably be dirty, and possibly even too small. He went to the door and opened it, edging into the yard, Florence at the door phone in her hand ready to dial 911 at a moment's notice.

Steve, who was really a lump of a man, he'd been quite handsome about twenty years ago, but after going so long without having to take care of himself he wasn't what he used to be, he was of grandfather age now so he didn't care, looked into the crater.

"What in Hell?" He asked staring down at the form that was lying in the hole in his yard. Riku looked absolutely furious. He stood up, brushing himself off and glared back up at the dragon in the sky that had drawn more attention in twenty minutes than they had in half a day.

"Sorry about that," He said taking to the sky and waving his hand, the yard became instantly perfect once again. "Hey, from now on you should probably stay indoors, and—oh, there'll be a list of names on your coffee table in there, if you could just sort of…I don't know sacrifice something to each person on there we'd be very appreciative."

Before Steve or Florence had time to respond Riku was gone. They both sat there watching in slight horror at the draconic figure in the sky.

"We need to send some money into the man on T.V." Florence told Steve, who grunted in response.

* * *

"Hurt?" Axel asked as Riku found his way back up high in the sky.

"Shut the hell up," The platinum blond growled. It had been his idea to charge Bahamut, who in returned shrieked and swatted his tail knocking Riku thousands of feet away from him in little under ten seconds.

"Riku, what have we told you? Never charge the all powerful creator of this and other known universes." Axel laughed more. "It just isn't very smart."

"Do you have any bright ideas?" Riku asked staring at Bahamut. The dragon stared down at them, his golden eyes like tomes of knowledge open for anyone to read, luckily none of the humans could see directly into them, the God felt as if they'd go mad staring into those eyes.

"This…world…" Bahamut's voice scratched reality like a pair of razor sharp claws, everything seemed to both stop and accelerate at the same time giving the group a feeling of nausea, making them all waiver in the air. "It is familiar. Old. I can feel my power here," His eyes fell on Xande. "You, tell me what this is, why I was summoned here."

But as soon as Jenova saw that look on Xande's face, the one that said he was about to be a jackass, she quickly began speaking.

"My Lord," She said interrupting him. "I am Jenova, the Wind, the Atmosphere, and your humble child. You created this world eons ago, and the four of us as well," She motioned to herself, Kuja, Jecht, and Xande. "We created the life here, these are our people."

The Great Bahamut thought that over for a moment. He looked right, and then he looked left taking in the entire world in just looking those directions. For a reference of how big Bahamut was he could wrap himself around the Earth twice with enough room to get from America to Asia.

"I see." He finally said, breathing in the stars and exhaling them back out. "You say you are creations of mine?" He asked, Marluxia tried to determine exactly how powerful Bahamut was, but he felt a wave of pain in his mind during his deduction and left it alone.

"Yes, Father." Jenova said and the three of them nodded.

"Then all you have created belongs to me, child, enough time dabbling in this silly reality, you for shall return to Terra and guard over the new beings there. I will dispose of this place properly, the welcome I received here was not very warm."

Everyone turned to look at Riku, who grinned sheepishly. "My bad."

"Bahamut, my Lord, you cannot be serious!" Jecht said, Tidus standing next to him.

"I am never joking," Bahamut answered.

"But we love this world! It is our home! You cannot ask us to leave to destroy it would destroy us!" Jenova said, Xande remained silent, and Kuja looked as if he wanted to speak but could not decide on the proper words. The dragon grunted, his nostrils flaring and the air that escaped dropped the temperature by twenty degrees.

"You all mistake my suggesting that we leave for kindness," Bahamut snarled. "Let me clear up the confusion, I have been sleeping a great many years, and it has made me rather light headed and irritated, my word is law. Do not test me any farther."

Aerith felt a foreign fear running down her spine. She looked at Bahamut with soft eyes, her heart pumping quickly in her chest.

"Lord Bahamut," She said rising quickly, the old draconian being looked down on her from above a God among gods. "I will not asked for you to spare us, I will not tell you that it is wrong for you to—"

"Are you attempting to reprimand me?" Bahamut asked haughtily and Aerith felt that same fear become searing pain. She cried out gasping as she staggered on her feet. "Little one, you will _not _dictate to me anything."

"I was merely—"

"Enough!" The world exploded in pain, everyone, every soul, every living, breathing thing crumpled in mind-numbing, paralyzing, gut-wrenching pain. Bahamut seethed in the sky, his great wings flapped once in the air and his powerful arms folded over his chest. Slowly he descended to the ground landing on his large, equally powerful legs. Now that he stood he blocked out the sun and cast a shadow across the world, his eyes gleaming gold in the darkness. The gods didn't try to follow him, but they were pulled down regardless.

"I—I cannot stay, I feel them dying," Roxas said gripping his head in pain. "The humans! I can feel their deaths individually, they are all in pain, crying out, I have to help them!" He was gone the next moment, screaming in agony. Axel tried to follow him, but Cloud grabbed his arm and shook his head.

"It appears as if one of you could not handle himself." Bahamut said breathing putrid breath in the air.

They stood on the ground with him, staring almost defiantly, but mostly fearfully at his great image All but one god, who instead looked at him with great audacity.

"Hmph," Sephiroth stared Bahamut in the eyes unabashed, unafraid, and unimpressed. "Do you know what you are?" He asked, his eyes glowing in the misty air of Ireland. The world was falling apart with them gathered here, monuments were crumpling, electronics had stopped working.

This one interested Bahamut, he had spirit, but strength to back it up as well, the dragon growled smirking down on the silver haired man with the laughably long sword. "Tell me, young man, what am I?"

"Nothing more than a dime store deity," Sephiroth answered. "The personification of a child with magnifying glass, you're parlor tricks like what you did injuring us, do you think that makes you a god? Do you think this power you hold over others, and your age entitle you to be respected? From how I've seen you behave you do not deserve my respect."

"Why you impudent—"

"Furthermore," Sephiroth continued leveling the great Creator with a sweep of his eyes. "you come calling to my mother, her compatriots, to leave on your whim. I, myself, am a father, I let my children do as they please since they have grown older, and I only reprimand them when they have gone against the laws of good and fairness, yet here you are, the supposed wisest and most benevolent being of this and many other universes, babbling like a child, stomping your foot when you're awoken from your slumber, and pitching a fit of rage when you don't get your way, you are no god, nor are you any respectable being. You are the worst kind of trash, Bahamut, the kind with power to lord over others."

Once again they all exploded in pain, a few of them falling to their knees.

"For your impudence you will be the first to die." Bahamut said stepping forward swiping an arm down at Sephiroth, who took the blow and was thrown to the ground. He was up in the next moment.

"How Divine of you, using your brute strength," He breathed heavily, regardless of how he was acting, Bahamut was still the most powerful thing Sephiroth had ever been in the presence of, and it was hard for him to even do this much, but he was never silent on his thoughts.

"Sephiroth, please," Aerith pleaded with him. "perhaps making him angry is not the best choice at this point."

"Queen Aerith, if I must live in fear then I do not wish to live at all," Sephiroth said. He rose into the air, sword held high. The one wing he had always shown now multiplied by seven, one where his arm would be and six where his legs should have been, his most ascended form. Two rings shown behind him almost beacons of his benevolence. The wing that sprouted from his arm socket had multiple hues of purple running through the feathers, and the six that amorphously shot out from his waist were all mostly white, except the very tips where they went from a gradient of yellow to violet.

"So you've got a bit of power," Bahamut said smirking at the transformed man.

"I sense you are not evil," Sephiroth said. "But you are insufferable, and egotistical."

"Then it is not your ego that makes you slander me?" The silver dragon asked. "Look at yourself, in your full glory, telling me off, being condescending, all for show I would bet." He swatted at Sephiroth again, but the man dodged and brought the blade down on the offending appendage. It sliced it, but not deep, and Bahamut's green blood oozed from the incision. He roared in anger, the laceration healing almost instantly.

"So you _can _be cut." Sephiroth smiled. "But for you knowledge I say what I say to you because it is the truth, not to flash my strength about, what do I care what these people think of me? Or anyone for that matter?" He turned back to the people on the ground, and he knew they would not be able to do as he was, maybe Xande and Jecht, and possibly Tidus and Axel, and even his own son if that were the matter, but the others were not destructive in their powers, what had worked previously wouldn't do the same here.

He stared down at the ones he knew could help him, then he remembered something else. _The humans. _

"Love God, go retrieve your followers," He blocked another attack by Bahamut, what he didn't kow was that Marluxia and Saix where moving time around Sephiroth in a strange way, it would bend and flex as Bahamut had been tried to hit him, growing more angry that the man seemed to be just out of his reach. Of course if Bahamut had known what they were doing he would have been able to get around the trick, but it was so simple he didn't think about it.

Sora nodded and got Chase, his ex-mother, and Kairi from behind the rock they'd used as a hiding place. They weren't doing well, all of them looking tired and dehydrated, somehow, sweating profusely, they dragged behind him.

"Sora, Sora I—I love—" The brunet waved a hand in front of Chase's face and the spell over him was broken, but that didn't stop him from looking at Sora with the most pathetic stare he'd ever seen. The poor thing had been cursed for too long underneath him.

"I have them, Sephiroth," Sora told him.

"Good, now take their belief, and focus it on Jecht, Xande, Riku, Tidus and Axel." Sephiroth said quite clearly.

"And me too." Leon said stepping forward, daring Sephiroth to contradict him. Sephiroth nodded when Leon stepped up. Aerith appeared beside Sephiroth and took his hand. He raised an eyebrow at her but she shook her head and smiled.

"Then I will fight him as well," she turned to everyone. "We all will, no more doubts about his power, or ours."

Saix and Marluxia respectively fell to their knees. They couldn't hold it any longer and Bahamut shot forward, Sephiroth blocked the claws that raked down on him. They were battling for a few moments before Bahamut began to get the upper hand.

"Where are your words of wisdom now?"

Sephiroth glared down at the attacking dragon and raised his weapon to the heavens. This next attack wouldn't be wise to use here, because it had destroyed a good portion of the city limits of Twilight Town back in Kingdom Hearts, but he saw no other choice.

"Sin Harvest Angel," He said bleakly. In that instant power rained down around them, falling rocks from space all imbued with pieces of Sephiroth in them, plus the burning fires of being brought hurtling through the atmosphere.

Aeirth nodded upon seeing Sephiroth's attack and clasped her hands together. She smiled, a warrior Queen who had not seen battle in a long time. "Great Gospel," and when the words left her lips white and blue swirling energies of pure and innocent essence left her body. They amassed in front of her, swirling and battling one another for dominance. She raised a hand and the effervescing prolific matter followed it path, shooting straight for Bahamut.

The dragon waved a hand and both attacks disappeared. His maw seemed to smile in delight as saliva dripped off of his fangs.

"Who do you think I am? I am no small foe," he opened his mouth to twice its normal size and an ink black fire erupted from his throat. They were only saved in a last ditch effort by Saix who exerted the very last of his strength in redirecting the attack towards the ocean, where it fried the largest body of water, sending a salt filled smoke into the air and killing most of the wildlife unfortunate enough to be swimming there.

Sora had a power that hadn't been seen in hundreds of year pulsating in his hands. It wasn't a color, yet it was every color, amorphous, but clearly a circle if you looked at it hard enough. It was the personification of belief in humans, tangible and manifest. It had no form because it was ever growing, and yet it was a circle because that was the most trustworthy and complete shape in existence.

The humans were taxed almost beyond repair. Tia Marie was here only because she believed this to be a dream, Sora was all too real to her at this point, her eyes were cloudy with tears, and her mind would have given out if Marluxia hadn't locked half of it away in hopes that when he unleashed it the rest would recover.

The brunet Love God threw the power in his hands into the air, it spread in the air and hit its targets, each one of them feeling something archaic creep up his spine, something that had long since been felt in Kingdom Hearts. It was the oldest form of strength, even before Bahamut had allowed this universe to be created, in other religions.

Leon, who had never felt this, shook to his very core like every nerve ending had come to life in his body, jumping and yelling excitedly for him to do something, anything! Just moving towards Bahamut brought made his joy increase by tenfold. His feet were blurs as he made his way towards the dragon along with everyone else. Sephiroth, Aerith, Cloud, Xande, Jecht, Tidus, Axel, Riku, with Sora putting a protective dome over the humans.

True there was still a gaggle of minor gods dawdling about on the ground, but they had spent the last of their powers. They were so tired they could not even properly transport themselves back to Kingdom Hearts so Rabbit and Piglet were retrieving the stragglers and escorting them back. The bodies of the Heartless were disappearing fast, but sadly even with them gone more and more would begin forming right away in the darkest, most desolate part of Kingdom Hearts, in the city known as Enchanted Dominion where Maleficent had originally began her devious planning, though a lot of good it did her.

Bahamut opened his mouth and an orb of blue essence began to gather around his maw, the force of it pushed the oncoming attack back slightly, but the gods persevered through it, sadly as soon as they reached him completely the ball was orbiting towards the earth, or better yet, towards Sora.

"Sora!" Riku yelled being the first to notice and turning tail on the attack he began leaping, bounding, struggling to surpass the ball of pure annihilation to get to the boy. Pure fear ran up his spine, tears stung at his eyes but he was not fast enough. Sora watched the looming thing, his hand poised in front of him and his eyes closed, behind him the humans were all murmuring things in their weakened state, but Riku was most definitely sure they were prayers of some kind. Sora opened his eyes and instead of that ocean blue they normally were they were glowing gold.

Waving his hand the sea directly below him gave a lurch before a wall of water at least thirty stories high collapsed in front of him. Bahamut's blast hit it but Sora smiled and he stood taller, his Keyblade appearing in his hands. He whispered something to the humans that Riku couldn't hear and burst forth from his protective dome. Like liquid he slid through his wall, then through the attack that had been meant to hit the ground, and probably destroy the earth.

The humans were standing now, their mouths moving so quickly that breath was hard to take, but they didn't seem to care and Sora rose ever higher, Keyblade poised just so. The others took this initiative of him shooting forward and all attacked Bahamut. Sephiroth's Sin Harvest Angel crushing the dragon's wings, Aerith's Great Gospel making him stagger backwards, Xande, Axel, and Leon's pillars of fire , everyone attack him differently. Even Pence and Hayner used their new abilities as best they could with such a small amount of experience and no training.

Bahamut grew more and more angry, he thrashed about as he was cut down from every angle. He shot energy ball after energy ball into the air taking giant chunks of the earth out with him, spilling lava over villages, flooding homes, people were dying in the millions with every breath he took. He swatted them left and right, and his all powerfulness seemed to be less so when a group of semi-all powerfuls banded together against him.

Finally Sora arrived, beside him were Kuja and Jenova who were both smirking proudly at him.

"Go," Jenova said pushing him forward with a typhoon of wind. He felt his aura increasing as Kuja traveled still beside him, looking forward towards Bahamut. He was smiling from ear to ear handsomely and he finally turned his liquid eyes on his grandson.

"I leave you with the rest of my power," He said. "And I remember why we left his company in the first place, the pretentious bastard, remember Sora, I'm always just a call away." Then he and Jenova were gone, disappeared completely. The boy looked forward and extended his Keyblade.

He made impact, the weapon tearing through Bahamut's skin like paper. He didn't stop there though, he tore through completely, as he travelled through the dragon he could hear the giant heart pumping, he could see blood moving through the veins he was ripping apart with his blade, it smelt dank and like rot but he continued on thanks to that extra boost from Jenova.

Sora came through on the other side to feel the sky shaking. He turned and true to its mark there was the hole completely through the creator's chest staring him in the face. Bahamut had stopped as if frozen, his eyes rolled up in the back of his head and he began falling forward.

The dragon lie on the ground, the mass of him stretching halfway around the globe, but he cried out in pain but he didn't receive any sympathy from the hovering Gods. Sora waved his hand and the attack from Bahamut that had collided with his wall of water was throw off of it and found its way hurtling towards its expeller.

What happened next I don't know exactly. When Bahamut ceased to exist it is said that the world was split in two, or that the universe became even more divided into itself, but what was clear was that the dragon was incinerated by his own attack all in one glorious instant. The world and all things living on it seemed to give a sigh of relief, of course what they didn't know was that Bahamut was simply reborn back in his realm as someone known as NeoBahamut, he has no recollection of his previous life, but now he is a sleeping babe being taken care of the guardians of that world. Its true that you cannot kill a god, no matter how hard you try, they will be dead for a while, but they'll be reborn somehow, either in a different form or in a younger state.

There was the matter of fixing the world around them that the saviors had to attend to first before they could rightly go home. But they were tired, their powers past exhausted.

"We cannot leave them like this," Jenova said breathing hard.

"You won't have to," It was Namine again. She was smiling as she appeared in the air and sauntered down towards them. Her blue eyes found Kairi and the pink haired girl passed out that moment, snoring loudly. Namine smiled even wider. Behind Namine stood Tinkerbell, Larxene, Demyx, Mushu curled around Namine's neck.

"Well look who decided to show up," Axel smirked at Demyx.

"Hey, hey now, we're just the cleanup crew, you guys take care of the big stuff, remember? Unless a promotion was in order?" Demyx gave a wry smile.

"Haha, hell no." Axel laughed clasping him on the back.

"Then we'll stay cleanup crew, Mushu if you please." The Rain God smiled at the Summoner as he jumped off of Namine's shoulder and onto the ground.

Mushu began banging his cymbal. "Alright, alright, now you lazybones get up, get up!" Mushu yelled making erratic noise all over the place till finally one by one all the minor gods began appearing right and left, a few of them groaning at being called to earth after having just exhausting themselves. "Shuddup," Mushu said sternly. "get your butts in action, you wonder why Lord Axel don't take you seriously!"

This caused the youngest God of Fire to smile, then he smiled even wider when Roxas appeared in the midst of all the minor gods. He looked tired, but fine otherwise, smelling of soot from the Underworld.

Aerith rounded up and kissed her children, telling them all how proud she was of them before calling Piglet to her side and retiring elegantly. Xande exhaled and in the next moment Ifirit and Shiva were standing beside him.

"Lotta good you two did," He said with a sideways smirk. "Go on home." Shiva disappeared, Xande wasn't her master so she didn't have to show him formality, but Ifirit bowed deeply before returning to Xande's mountain.

Axel was staring at the ground, he fidgeted with his hands and picked invisible lint off of his jacket before Roxas rolled his eyes and nudged him in the ribs. He stepped forward and gave his father a slight bow.

"Speak boy," Xande smiled warmly.

"So…I'll see you around right?" Axel asked. When Xande raised an eyebrow Roxas laughed and stepped up beside his lover.

"What he means is will you stay or will you return to your palace and never see him again?" Roxas supplemented. "He's never been very good with words."

"Shut up, Roxas." Axel said hitting him on the shoulder.

"Ah," Xande said meeting his son's eyes. He considered him for a moment, his own golden-white pupils smiling, his white hair flowing in the breeze, and the brightening sun kissing his coal skin. "Axel, my son, soon it will be your Kingdom out there, our people, the people of Radiant Garden, will look to you for guidance, of course I will continue to see you! How else will you learn to become the next ruler?"

Jecht laughed beside him. "Ruler? Old friend you stay locked up in your mountain, Radiant Garden hasn't seen you in half a millennia."

"Yes, well at least they know I'm there." Xande answered not turning from his son, but his smile becoming very snarky. "Had I spent the last few hundred years Nowhere like yourself I might have lost my Kingdom altogether."

There was a tense moment of silence; something was very real in the air, palpable, tangible, and heavy. Jecht raised his hand and pounded Xande on the back laughing.

"Too true," He said smirking now as well. "Luckily Hollow Bastions are loyal, they will take me back as if I'd never left."

"So to answer the question…?" Roxas asked.

"Yes," Xande answered. "I will most definitely stay around, I've already missed so much of your life."

"What's a couple hundred years between father and son?" Axel asked smiling and his father did something he didn't expect. He pulled him into a hug. Axel stiffened into the embrace until he felt Xande's magnificent heat rolling unconsciously off of his body and Axel remembered exactly what it had been like when he was a child, this familiarity, encumbering him, surrounding him so comfortably. His father.

The red head hugged him back fiercely and it suddenly grew very hot, the temperature spiking rapidly. They parted and Xande held Axel at an arm's length before he grabbed Roxas by the arm and pulled him in too.

"Can you take care of my boy?"

"Of course," The blond smiled grabbing Axel's hand. The red head shook his father's hand, grinning a Cheshire grin and then pulled Roxas close, he wrapped an arm around the surprised blond and waved good-bye to all as they slowly began disappearing to Kingdom Hearts. Before they were completely gone he made sure that everyone saw him plunge Roxas' lips with a vengeance. Everyone laughed at his antics and Roxas simply rolled his eyes too tired to do anything but kiss him back.

The next moment Xande, Jecht, and Tidus were gone as well.

Riku stood there, staring at Sora, his eyes were red and he looked concerned. "I thought I was going to lose you again." He said standing there, still not completely recovered from seeing Bahamut's attack unleashed on the brunet. "I thought—" He was silenced by the light press of Sora's lips. The Love God pulled Riku's head down to rest against his shoulder and he held him there.

"I won't ever leave again, I won't be naïve anymore, no one could ever tear me apart from you." Sora said rubbing Riku's back. "Never again." That was all it took for Riku to pull Sora into himself,k his head buried deeply in the boy's hair.

"There is so much I want to say to you Sora, things I couldn't we needed you to come back as quickly as possible, that I couldn't because it would be too much to tell you at such a pivotal time." Riku mumbled into Sora's hair, taking in the smell of the ocean on a beautiful day known as Sora.

"Riku." Sora said hugging him tightly. "I know what you want to say, I can feel it in your emotions, remember who I am?" He asked looking up at those aquamarine eyes and grinning lopsidedly. "It's all very beautiful," It was true, Riku's love was like watching the sunlight cast a prism through ten unpoppable thousand bubbles floating into the sky, so beautiful, so fragile, always changing but never lessening. Sora felt such a strong wave of emotion flow from Riku that he held onto him tighter.

"I told you, I won't be going anywhere ever again. No one will ever pull us apart." He told the platinum blond and kissed his lips again, his tongue sliding over Riku's bottom lip forcing itself into the Earth God's hot mouth, trilling against his tongue, sweeping around, and moaning.

"God." Riku said between kisses, his hands finding their way under Sora's battle worn shirt. Cloud cleared his throat and then a particularly strong gale parted the two of them. Sora went pink in the face but Riku couldn't look anywhere but Sora's lips, a very hungry glint in his eyes.

"Little brother," Cloud smiled. "I am so very glad you are back, and being that you have been missing for almost half a century I realize that you miss your lover, but as older brother I still have castration rights if I see him molesting you in public."

"Oh hush," Sora said turning red. "He wasn't molesting me and you know it, in fact I was the one who would have been molesting—"

"Get your ass back home," Cloud said bopping Sora on the head and turning back to Leon. "Let's go." He said extending a hand, the brunet took it and smiled at him.

"I just got it," Leon smiled. "Damn you guys and fate. Sun and Sky." He shook his head as they slowly disappeared.

"Come on Sora, we should get going too," Riku said noticing about everyone else was gone, everyone but Pence, Hayner, and—

"My son," Sephiroth said and Riku met his mako green eyes for the first time in a long time. He was the youngest therefore he felt his brothers knew their father better than he did, so Riku didn't make it a point to talk to the man…ever. But he was faced with him now, the two looking at one another so similarly.

"Father." Riku replied, thankful that Sora gripped his hand, squeezing it encouragingly.

"Sora," Sephiroth gave the boy a curt nod of the head before he turned back to Riku. "Watching around I see these other fathers and I—" Sephiroth stopped for a moment, an uncharacteristic look of confusion showing clearly on his face. "Damn it I'm not good at these sort of things." He took an unnecessary breath. "Riku, my boy, you out of your brothers are the most like your mother by far, strong willed but caring, bright, and you have her eyes,"

"Thanks, Father." Riku said gripping Sora's hand just a bit tighter, he wasn't sure where his father was going with this.

"What I am trying to say is that I am proud of you, in light of your brothers I am making you next in line for the power of our name," He smiled. "The Son of Sephiroth, as I was the Son of the Good Mother, and your grandmother was The Daughter of Bahamut."

Riku's mouth hung open. "M-me?" He said pointing at himself. "But, I mean, father I—me really?" He questioned. "Surely when Kadaj is released he will be a better—"

"None of that talk, not from my child," Sephiroth said cutting Riku off. "Now then, you are next in line for the prestige of our name, for all the rights of our power, I think it only right since you are with Sora, and every few generations of our families seem to have relations with those of the Bringer's…"

"What about you and my mom?" Sora asked, but immediately regretted it when Sephiroth leveled him with much the same look he'd given Bahamut an hour or so ago.

"That could not happen," He told Sora. "As I was saying, I am proud of you, son, and I _love you_." He strained out, it wasn't something that he said very often, and something he hadn't _meant _since he'd told his wife many, many, many years ago.

For the second time that day Riku's jaw fell open. "I love you too Father," He said almost automatically, he couldn't think properly staring at the older man. Sora smirked to himself turning toward Demyx but secretly and slowly pushing them into a hug, an awkward hug at that. Sephiroth patted him twice on his back before pulling away.

"Well then," He cleared his throat, his eyes not giving away the fact that he felt out of his comfort zone, but it was still very much portrayed. "Return safely, Riku. Sora." And then he was gone.

"Demyx," Sora said to his distant cousin. "Are you sure you don't want us to stay and help?"

"We'll be fine," Demyx laughed and turned back to the clouds he was working with, slowly orchestrating them to a puffy white color instead of a blood red one. "You know we're not weak, just minor." He told him.

"Yeah I know," Sora said with a playful smile, he needed to let the father/son awkward team alone, but it seemed that Sephiroth had already gone. "I thought your hug would last longer than that." Sora smiled. "Its not like you two ever interact."

"Well my father isn't one for affection," Riku laughed. "I thought you would have known that by now, that was a very sly trick you pulled there too."

"Trick? Me? I didn't do anything." Sora said sticking his tongue out and having Riku nip it quickly.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, we'll leave this to the professionals." Demyx turned his head and flipped Riku off before he continued what he was doing, making the silver haired god chuckle. Hayner and Pence walked hand in hand to where Sora and Riku were standing.

"You two ready? I can't wait to actually show you Kingdom Hearts this time, its massive."

"Not yet," Pence said. "I'm going to see my mom one last time, and Hayner wants to rub his new power in Seifer's face, but we'll be back soon." Sora nodded.

"I understand." He said with a smile. "Try not to drive your brother insane, Hayner."

"Hey, I'm his little brother, god or not, it's my job." The slim blond laughed. "Besides, I wanna make sure Pop doesn't give him too much of a hard life when he goes back home this summer."

"Look at you, you have a heart after all." Sora smiled even wider.

"Yeah, its black and shriveled, later Spiky." He slapped hands with the brunet, and Pence hugged him, and then they were gone as well.

"Miss Vertolini don't go over there!" Namine yelled, but she couldn't stop Tia, if she imposed any more will over her before unlocking the rest of her mind she would do irreparable damage. Tia-Maria stopped in front of Sora, her eyes were tired, her hair was a mess, and every part of her body ached, but she knew this boy! Knew him more than the slight insanity in her head that made her want to bow before him did.

"Who are you?" She asked, staring down at him and Sora couldn't take it. He felt guilty about forgetting about her as soon as he real memory returned, he missed her dearly, had for the past nine years ever since he got taken away at the age of eight. He threw his arms around her, Riku grounded the woman, setting up a barrier around her mind so that the force of Sora's magic wouldn't corrupt her. She was blessed by many gods he noticed, Sora's gift shining the brightest in her.

"I'm your son," Sora said happily. "Well, I was your son. You birthed me, and raised me, and loved me, and I loved you."

"Why aren't you my son anymore?" She asked, stroking his face in a very similar way to that of the way she used to.

"Because I was never truly human, I cannot be your son." He told her. "No, no, that's not true. A part of me will always be your son." He kissed her cheek gently and stepped back. "Now I'm going to give you a gift for taking me in." Waving his hand he fixed her mind, but took it a step further. "For allowing me to be your son, and then having me torn away I give you a real son, fathered by the man who would have been my father, and I'll take away every memory of me, of this, all of it out."

Tia looked him over and smiled. "You turned out so handsome, you look just like Leon." She smiled. "Speaking of which, was that your cousin I saw earlier?"

"The one and the same." Sora smiled.

"Wouldn't his mother be surprised to see him with the same man she used to date, he didn't look a day over eighteen either, I'll have to get his secret." It was evident by her speech that Sora was slowly weaving out all memories of him and replacing them with memories of her new son.

There, holding her hand was a boy the same age as Sora and Roxas, who looked like a good cross between both of them. Tia's eyes were blank for a moment and then she lost the ability to see the gods completely. Snapping his fingers Sora sent his mother and her new boy back to Italy. If you ever meet a Ven Vertolini, make sure he doesn't read this recounting, I, as your author, am in hot water as it is for having reported this to you.

"I can handle Kairi and Chase," Namine told Sora and he nodded to her, she turned back to the sleeping humans who weren't nearly as fragile as Tia had been.

"Well," Riku said smiling. "Are we getting back?" Sora grabbed his hand and smiled at him.

"We'll go together." He told him, kissing the boy's cheek before becoming wrapped in an incandescent blue aura, both of them slowly disappearing into another realm, and they lived many more stories, for as long as the world itself was sustained, they battled more, another evil queen named Grimhilde, and other terrible evils, all of them living each moment like it was their last, because they never knew if and when Bahamut would be back, conscious of their strength now, and ready to take the universe for his own.

Of course, you don't remember any of this, hell, if Marluxia and Saix hadn't found me and told me these things I wouldn't have remembered either. I don't care if you don't believe any of it, because I know it's the truth. So go back to your lives of humdrum but remember, strive to be a god, with good qualities, and even if you fall short at least someone knows you were trying.

_End. _

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**Author's notes: **I am so sad that this story is over. It was by far my favorite to write because I don't get to be a fantasy fiction writer very often, but I think I'll be changing that soon with the new stories I'll start posting. I truly, truly, truly, and a fourth time truly am grateful that you read this, regardless of if you reviewed or not. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it, and I want to say that you guys were so nice to me with reviews I couldn't have asked for kinder words.

Well. I'll be around.

Love,

Hitome-Chan


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